A Very Starkid Fanfic
by YourPontmercyFriend
Summary: AVPM, Quirrell and Voldemort are together and adopt an 11 year old witch. Quirrellmort. Quirrelmort. Quirrelldemort. T for awkwardness, Scarfy, and PDA. The writing is rocky for a loong time, bear with me this was my first fanfic. Major crack going on here and some feels along with it. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

After Quirrell was released from Azkaban and reunited with Voldemort, the two of them went off to live in the muggle world. It was too dangerous for them to try living in the Wizarding World seeing as Voldemort was supposed to be dead, and Quirrell would have a heck of a time trying to find a job. Instead they went into hiding in a small town and kept out of contact with any wizards. Quirrell managed to get a job at a nearby middle school to teach a Myth and Legend class.

Alexia, being the shy and jumpy person she was, always sat in the back row whenever possible. Myth and Legend class was no exception, even though Professor Quirrell was the nicest and funniest teacher in the entire school. He wasn't the problem; it was all of the other kids and their… emotions. Hate, jealousy, love, lust, anger, any particularly strong emotion within the classroom she got to feel. Being an empath might be nice for someone who wants to comfort a friend or understand how someone felt about them, but for Alexia it meant feeling what everyone in her school felt. How was she supposed to explain why she broke down crying every once and awhile because of experiencing someone else's grief? Or how about nearly making out with a random girl in the hallway because her boyfriend was around? Things like that were the reasons why she had no friends and always got made fun of. And there were other problems…

She was a witch, and according to the wizard she lived with, a very unusual one. For one thing, her parents made it physically impossible for her to go to Hogwarts, or any other wizarding school. Her parents had put in their will that in case they died before it came time for her magical education to begin, she would never go to a wizarding school. Alexia assumed that they had wanted to teach her themselves and could keep her out of Hogwarts for their own reason. Now that they were gone the only way she'd get any magical instruction was if she became someone's apprentice. Unfortunately she lived with her uncle, where on a good day he ignored her existence.

There was something different about Professor Quirrell though. Yes he was actually nice to her, but there was something else, she found out what it was after school one day.

After being kicked and beaten around for sport by the older kids because she was a freak, Alexia was crying in a corner of the playground where everyone would hopefully leave her alone. It wasn't the kicking and punching that hurt, it was the malice that radiated off of them. Not to mention that her uncle was getting more drunk and violent than usual.

"Hey, are you okay?" Alexia jumped as her thoughts were interrupted by Professor Quirrell as he came over to sit by her. "What happened?" he asked as he sat down next to her, looking at her with more concern than she'd ever experienced in her life.

"Oh, er, nothing," she sniffed as she tried to pull herself together; she hated it when she fell to pieces when someone tried to talk to her.

"It doesn't look like nothing."

"It's just uh, stuff at home," Alexia replied still trying to keep her voice level and feeling more and more strange by the minute. Not only was someone actually talking to her and trying to comfort her, but he had a certain aura around him that she couldn't quite place.

"Oh, okay. If you ever want someone to talk to, you're welcome to come to me okay?" he said and put his arm around her, which is when she almost fainted.

If she thought muggles' emotions where strong, she was nowhere near prepared for what happened when Quirrell touched her. His concern and emotions crashed over her like a tidal wave. The powerful aura also became clear; she recognized it from being around her uncle.

"You're a… a wizard" Alexia said faintly. She dizzily stared at his shocked face while trying to stay conscious. "I'm a witch."

"I can tell," Quirrell said as he started to recover. "Wait a minute; if you're a witch, why are you attending a muggle school? You're eleven, you should be at Hogwarts. Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I have" Alexia replied, her vision was starting to blur. "But I can't go."

"Why not?"

"I need your help."

Quirrell looked at her with concern again. "What do you need? Why can't you go?"

"I need your help" She repeated. "I can't go home I need your help." Alexia was unable to remain conscious and began to fall forward; Quirrell quickly reached out and caught her up in his arms. Considering her pleas for help, he knew he would have to take her home with him for the time being… His roommate would not be happy…

Being the Muggle Studies teacher for a few years had benefitted Quirrell more than he thought it would. Like the fact that he knew how to drive had helped a lot when Voldemort and him had to go into hiding in the muggle world. As he pulled into his driveway Quirrell wondered how on Earth he'd explain the unconscious Alexia to Voldemort. Quirrell parked and carried Alexia up to the door and let himself in to find Voldemort making dinner.

Due to being presumed dead Voldemort couldn't go out in public, not even in the muggle world; it was too risky. Voldemort was forced to stay inside the house, where he did most of the cooking/cleaning for lack of anything better to do. "Hi Quirrell!" Voldemort called from the kitchen as Quirrell walked in. "Hope you like vegetable soup."

"Hope you made extra," replied Quirrell as he put Alexia in a chair in the dining room.

"Why's that?" asked Voldemort as he walked into the dining room. His eyes widened as he saw Alexia, "What's she doing here? You'd better have an amazing explanation for this." He growled as he turned towards Quirrell.

"She needs our help."

"I said I wanted a good reason."

"She's a witch."

"Oh that's just GREAT!" snapped Voldemort." Whatever happened to not drawing attention to ourselves and staying away from the magical world?"

"This is an emergency, you know I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think it was necessary," replied Quirrell as he walked over to the stove and put the tea kettle on. "She's a special case. For some reason she can't go to Hogwarts or go home."

"That's absurd," said Voldemort as he stirred the simmering soup with his wand. "But that doesn't explain why she's unconscious?"

"When I touched her earlier-"

"What did you-"

"She passed out afterwards saying something about feeling magic and knowing that I was a wizard. And I could feel something too, magic, and a lot of it."

Voldemort looked at Alexia again with interest. "You're saying that she can feel magic around her?"

"I think so, I want to ask her some questions and maybe have her spend the night here if it's true that she can't go home." The tea kettle started to whistle and Quirrell poured some water into a mug and inserted a bad of tea into it. "I think she's starting to wake up." He said as Alexia was trying to sit up with her eyes still closed. Quirrell walked over with the mug of tea and set it in front of her. Voldemort poured 3 bowls of soup and levitated them to the table.

Quirrell sat down next to Alexia and asked "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" mumbled Alexia as she yawned tiredly.

"How do you feel?"

"Okay," Alexia said as she sat up and looked at Quirrell. "Where am I?"

"Quirrell brought you here," replied Voldemort from her other side. "He said you needed help."

Alexia jumped and asked "Um, who are you?" as she turned towards Voldemort.

"My name is Voldemort."

"Oh" she took a sip of her tea and did a spit take "VOLDEMORT?" she yelped. "Ohmygosh!" She jumped and clamped a hand over her mouth as she started shaking. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I just…"

"It's okay," soothed Quirrell as he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder and thought better of it. "He's really nice now. Here, drink some of your tea, you'll feel better. It's chamomile." Quirrell pushed the mug of tea towards her.

"What Quirrell said, I'm really nice now," said Voldemort as Alexia started to drink her tea. "You can call me Voldemort; it'll drive me crazy if you start saying You-Know-Who all the time."

"Okay," said Alexia nervously. For the first time she took in what Voldemort was wearing as she turned towards him. He was wearing some sort of scaly gloves and even more peculiar an apron that said "Too many chefs, not enough dishwashers" on it. He was absent-mindedly stirring his soup with his wand as he spoke.

"Quirrell brought you here because he said you needed our help, what is it?" Voldemort asked.

"It's nothing," Alexia mumbled as she stared at the tablecloth.

"It is not nothing," said Quirrell. "Why can't you go to Hogwarts?"

"My parents put a curse on me so I couldn't go to a wizarding school. And it canceled out what my uncle says is the Trace, so the Ministry/Hogwarts has no idea I'm a witch," Alexia said talking fast trying to get the conversation over with.

Voldemort and Quirrell looked at each other. "Your parents put a curse on you so you couldn't go to any school of magic and it canceled out the Trace?" asked Quirrell.

"Uh, yeah" Alexia mumbled. "And I live my uncle who's a wizard and won't teach me anything and hates me and just wants to get rid of me." She was now blushing even more and was still staring at the tablecloth. "And I was wondering if you could… teach me." She said even more quietly.

"Wow, I didn't know that the Trace could be deleted, your parents must have been powerful and clever," commented Voldemort. "Are you a pureblood?"

"Yes."

"And the Trace is completely gone?"

"Yes."

"Then I might consider it," said Voldemort much to Alexia's surprise. "I couldn't bear to see a pureblood never get a magical education."

"I'll consider it too," said Quirrell. "It doesn't really matter if you're a pureblood or not to me, but you do need some sort of magical instruction, you could get yourself hurt if you're not careful. Meanwhile, you can spend the night in the guest bedroom. Will you get in trouble if you stay?"

"No, my uncle wants nothing more than to get rid of me."

"Good," said Voldemort, earning a nasty look from Quirrell and a slightly hurt look from Alexia. "I mean, that you can stay." He added quickly. "One more question, from what I hear you can feel magic?"

"Sort of," Alexia replied. "I can feel emotions and stuff too in the general area that I'm in."

"Oh, so you're an empath," said Quirrell. "Is that why you've been having those weird mood swings?"

Alexia started blushing again "You were noticing that?" she asked sheepishly.

"A little bit, you'd be perfectly fine and then blinking back tears and then bursting out laughing and then looking like you wanted to kill someone, I wondered if something was up. It's nothing to be ashamed of," he added as she looked down at the tablecloth. "Is that partly why you were so startled earlier?"

"Yeah it was," she responded. "Because no one has ever been actually concerned about me. And because you're a wizard your emotions were a lot stronger than a muggles' emotions."

Quirrell reached out his hand to hover over her shoulder, "Is it okay with you?"

"Uh, sure, I'm ready for it this time," said Alexia. Quirrell out his hand on her shoulder and she relaxed a bit. She allowed his comforting emotions to wash over her and immediately felt sleepy and warm; she hadn't realized how tired she was.

"You need to get to bed before you fall asleep at the table," said Voldemort. "Sounds like you need rest, especially if we're going to be moving you in here." Quirrell helped Alexia up and guided her from the table and up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

"Sleep well," Quirrell said as Alexia laid down, after he left she fell asleep.

Quirrell came downstairs and found Voldemort supervising the dishes washing themselves. "Would you really want to train her?" he asked.

"Once a teacher always a teacher I guess," replied Quirrell. "I really am a Hufflepuff, can't help wanting to help others most of the time."

"Yeah," said Voldemort. "She is a pureblood, lots of untapped potential, I can't let that all go to waste, no one better to train her than us."

"Oh admit it, you want to help her and you know it," Quirrell said teasingly. "I know you're not heartless, proof of that is the fact that you're still here."

"Okay then, fine. I kind of want to help her. But it's mostly because she's a pureblood."

"So am I going with her to her uncle's to get her things and then to Diagon Alley to get a wand?"

"Yeah, looks like we have an apprentice," said Voldemort.

**My dream ended here but I am continuing this, part 2 is up now, hope you enjoy it!**


	2. Chapter 2

MORE RANDOM DISCLAIMER RAMBLINGS: This is a continuation of my dream with the AVPM Voldemort and Quirrell and Alexia. I don't own anything/one besides Alexia seeing as she's a figment of my imagination. This doesn't make any sense? Go and read the original fic in the artist's comments.

Alexia woke with a start as she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings of her current room. Then she remembered the night before with Voldemort and Quirrell and wondered whether or not she'd get to stay here. It'd looked like she'd been able to stay last night but doubt flooded her. Thinking back she didn't think she had made a very good first impression. Oh well, may as well go downstairs and see if anyone was up yet at 8 AM Saturday.

Alexia came downstairs to find Voldemort and Quirrell in the kitchen making breakfast. Voldemort was busy making French toast on the griddle and Quirrell was setting up the coffee pot. "Good morning!" said Quirrell as she started to set the table. "Sleep well?"

"Uh, yeah" replied Alexia starting to feel nervous again. "So, er…"

"You can stay," said Voldemort, answering her unasked question. "We've decided to give you your magical education and if your uncle allows, you can stay with us."

"Thank you so much!" said Alexia blushing a little. "It means a lot to me."

"Whenever you're ready we'll go to Diagon Alley to get you your wand and a few other things." said Quirrell. Seeing the blank look on Alexia's face he added "Diagon Alley is a place in London that only wizards can get to; it's inaccessible to muggles. There are all sorts of magic shops there. We'll go after we get your stuff from your uncle's."

"Okay," replied Alexia. "Um, are you guys pretty much adopting me?"

"That's one way to put it," said Voldemort as he took the French toast off of the griddle and started on eggs. "Between adoption and the equivalent of consensual kidnapping, I'll choose adopting. I don't want any trouble with the muggle police."

"I was just asking because my uncle already has adoption papers. He's been trying to get rid of me for years."

"Wow, what a jerk!" said Quirrell as the coffee finished making "I'm glad that we're getting you out of his care."

"Does leaving right after breakfast to get the adoption stuff over with sound okay with you?" asked Voldemort.

"Yes, thank you a lot," said Alexia.

"And another thing," said Voldemort as they were finishing up. "You can relax around us, okay? If you spend possible years here always looking like a first year about to get Sorted you'll drive me up the wall. It'll help your learning too, no one I've known has ever killed someone by saying 'Avada um Kedavra'."

"Okay," Alexia replied with a small smile. "I'll-WAIT, WHAT!"

"Can we leave and get this over with?" whined Quirrell. "I haven't a clue how long it'll take to get the adoption paperwork and stuff done, besides way too long. I want to be able to get to Diagon Alley sometime today."

"Sure, let's leave then," said Voldemort as the dishes flew into the sink with a crash. "I'll… I'll take care of those later." He said as they walked out the door.

With Quirrell driving, they drove towards Alexia's uncle's house with Alexia giving Quirrell directions along the way. Voldemort and Quirrell lived just outside of the city limits to the north to have a moderate amount of privacy, Alexia and her uncle also lived outside of most of the bustle clear on the other side, making the fastest way to go straight through the heart of town. They arrived in a few hours, and it wasn't what Voldemort and Quirrell had expected.

Alexia's house was remarkably clean and tidy for being owned by a drunk, with a neat flower bed out front and the greenest grass on the block, and yet it was being given a wide berth by everyone who passed it. It was obvious that Alexia's uncle had a bad reputation around the area.

"Wow, it looks really nice out front," commented Quirrell. "Who planted the flowers?"

"That was me," replied Alexia. "I have to do all of the housekeeping and cooking."

"And school? Geez, you're kept pretty busy."

"Yeah," replied Alexia as she opened the door and ushered them inside.

The interior was as tidy as the exterior, but much more unpleasant. It looked nice, but it smelled like decay, tobacco, sick, and an ungodly amount of flowery Febreeze air freshener were having a war. Quirrell gagged and Voldemort sneezed and gagged at the same time."Sorry," said Alexia apologetically "He won't let me open the windows because it's either too hot or too cold outside. I barely get away with leaving mine open at night." Then looking extremely nervous she called out, "Hello?"

"ALEXIA TIFFANY DRESDENT! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" came the angry reply from down the hall and around the corner. Alexia, Quirrell, and Voldemort headed down the hall and to the left where the dining room is. This was the center of most of the stench in the house, only with much less Febreeze.

The dining room table was covered with beer bottles/cans (her uncle didn't seem too picky about what he drank, it's not like he'd remember what it tasted like anyway) and cigarettes. There were also some playing cards and chips scattered around suggesting that he had guests over and a late night.

Alexia's uncle didn't look any better. He had coarse, long, unkempt back hair and beard. He had a piercing glare and a look of madness that suggested he had never thought clearly or acted kindly at all in his life. He had a beer belly and his breath was slightly ragged, when he talked it was clear he was a long time smoker. "Where have you been? You'd better have a good excuse for coming back so bloody late, there's work to be done," he snapped. He turned to Voldemort and Quirrell and said, "Who the hell are you people?"

Voldemort started to reply but Quirrell cut in, knowing that Voldemort had a bad temper on the best of days. "I'm Professor Quirrell, a teacher at Alexia's school, and I've come to you to talk about arrangements for Alexia. My roommate and I would like to adopt her. We're concerned about her well being, and education."

"So she ran to you for help because she was sick of living here was she?" her uncle snarled. "I'll get rid of her when the time comes, for now she's a good housemaid. And muggles like you ain't gonna do anything about it."

"I'm not a muggle!" Voldemort burst out before Quirrell could say anything and then sneezed again.

"And Alexia is your niece, not your person servant!" added Quirrell looking shocked at what he was hearing. "If you won't let her live with us we can get the muggle police to come over, they'll be on our side. And be glad we aren't muggles, you would've broken the Statute of Secrecy."

"Not muggles eh? Well then, you've probably seen what a weakling of a little Squib she is. Perfect blood and out comes a girl who can hardly stop crying enough to get a sentence out." At this point Alexia was shaking a little and looking like she might cry but was trying very hard not to do so. The combination of eleven years of hatred and spite from her uncle and Quirrell and Voldemort's building emotions weren't helping her.

Quirrell looked over and realized this and said as softly as he could, "It'll be okay Alexia, go upstairs and pack. We'll take care of it." Alexia then turned and ran out of the room as fast as possible as she started to sob quietly. He turned back to Alexia's uncle and continued, "One way or another we cannot allow her to be in your care, if all else fails we could set the wizard cops on you."

"Yeah right."

"Do you want to find out if we make empty threats?" snapped Voldemort. "Mr. uh…"

"Dresdent. Roger Dresdent." Roger replied. "Who're you?"

"Joe," replied Voldemort knowing that that was the lamest name ever. He and Quirrell had agreed that there was no way he could go by Voldemort or Tom Riddle, but they had never discussed what he was to go by. "Joe Rosenburg."

"What business do you have here? Surely Alexia isn't worth all of this trouble."

"Yes she is," said Quirrell. "We actually care about her and are concerned for her well being, unlike you. Either way, even if we have to get the authorities over here we're still going to take custody of her."

"Fine, you win," Roger growled. "Sit down and we'll get the paperwork done."

Voldemort muttered "_Scourgify,"_ and the table and his chair were immediately cleaned off, Quirrell did the same thing as he sat down. An hour or so of tedious paperwork and bouts of sneezing from Voldemort followed this as Alexia was upstairs packing.

Alexia didn't have very many things to pack; most of her belongings were just clothes, a few books and some other trinkets including old Daily Prophets she had managed to sneak out from her uncle's stash of them. She was fairly cheerful as she neatly stacked things into her trunk, knowing that she was finally leaving this house for good when something caught her eye. It was the newspaper of the day Voldemort had returned, and on the front it read "The Dark Lord Returns, Hufflepuff Found Dead and Professor Quirrell Sentenced to Life in Azkaban". To make sure that there wasn't another Quirrell Alexia frantically turned to the article inside about Quirrell and saw a heart-broken looking Quirrell in prisoners' robes staring at her. She numbly read the rest of the article about how Quirrell confessed to murdering Cedric Diggory in a graveyard and helping Voldemort return.

Alexia had been so desperate to get out of her uncle's house that she had tried to get the first wizard she found to take her in. It had been quite a shock to find out that Quirrell's roommate was Voldemort, but she had been convinced that neither Voldemort nor Quirrell would hurt her, but now it turns out that Quirrell had admitted to murdering a student for no other reason than the fact that he was just there, and Voldemort had done many unmentionable things himself. She had taken Quirrell's word for it that Voldemort had changed thinking that someone as innocent and smart as Quirrell wouldn't live with Voldemort unless if they had solid evidence that he had changed, but it looked like Quirrell was a criminal himself so Voldemort had no need to change in order to get his most loyal servant back. What on Earth did they want with her? It looked like she had walked into the Dark Lord's arms to be the first new Death Eater since Voldemort's defeat, or maybe just plain dead if they didn't find her to be a good enough witch.

"Alexia, we're ready to go!" called Quirrell from downstairs making her jump. She hurriedly threw the rest of her possessions into her truck, slammed it shut and ran downstairs full of dread of what she had signed up for.


	3. Chapter 3

"FRESH AIR!" exclaimed Voldemort as they left Roger's house. He breathed in deeply, "I hope I never have to smell lavender again," he said as he sneezed.

"Wow Joe, You have amazing allergies for someone who hardly has a nose." Quirrell remarked with a smirk.

"Oh shut it," replied Voldemort as he sneezed again. "So, are you guys going to Diagon Alley?"

"I guess. Are you going to Apparate home?"

"Sure, it'll save you a trip, and I seriously need some Nasonex. See ya later." said Voldemort as he turned on the spot and disappeared with a small pop.

Quirrell turned to Alexia, "All of your stuff packed and in the trunk?"

"Yeah." replied Alexia who was still digesting what she had read a few minutes ago vowing that after she got her wand she was taking off the first chance she got. She could learn magic somewhere else.

"Okay," Quirrell said. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look too well." He gave her a concerned look that she wanted to believe was genuine but couldn't be sure anymore. When Alexia just nodded she knew he wasn't convinced but decided not to ask, probably assuming she'd had a bad day and didn't want to talk about it.

Quirrell and Alexia got into the car and Quirrell said, "Diagon Alley is in London, so we'll get there in a couple hours." Alexia just nodded again, feeling almost as nervous as the first time she'd talked to him. The few hours that followed were uneventful besides just looking out the window or listening to the radio.

Once in London Quirrell found a place to park the car. "We're a few blocks away from The Leaky Cauldron; we have to go through there to get to Diagon Alley." He then unlocked the trunk and pulled out a set of black hooded robes which he put on over his muggle clothing. Quirrell hid his face back into the hood "I don't have too good of a reputation in the wizarding community," he explained, unknowingly confirming Alexia's fears.

Quirrell and Alexia walked for a ways before they came to a busy street. Quirrell said, "Ah, here it is, The Leaky Cauldron." as he pointed across the street to a small pub Alexia hadn't noticed before. She got the feeling it was enchanted so you wouldn't notice it unless if someone pointed it out to you, all of the passing muggles didn't seem to realize it was there. They walked across the street and pushed open the door.

The Leaky Cauldron was pretty run-down looking at first glance but still fairly crowded with wizards, witches, and some that looked like hags or other creatures. The entire pub fell silent when Quirrell entered. A few people were outright staring while others broke into whispered conversations. Quirrell took Alexia's hand and hurried to the back door of the pub to get away from the crowd as fast as possible. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and said, "Most people still think I murdered Cedric, even the ones who think I'm innocent avoid me. You'll be safe though; no one's going to outright attack us just for going shopping." Quirrell took out his wand and tapped a brick in the courtyard leading to Diagon Alley. Despite her nervousness and unease, Alexia couldn't help being amazed at what she saw.

The bricks in the wall surrounding the one Quirrell had tapped disappeared and formed a large archway, revealing one of the busiest and most interesting streets Alexia had ever been to. Shops of all sorts lined the streets selling everything from owls to books to potion ingredients. Anything and everything a wizard would ever want/need seemed to be sold here.

After Alexia and Quirrell stepped through the bricks reformed the wall. Smiling at the look of complete amazement on Alexia's face Quirrell said, "Come on, we've got get you a wand, some beginner spell books, a few potion ingredients that we're running out of, and it wouldn't hurt you to have some wizarding robes." The Apothecary was nearest so they went inside to get potion supplies and protective gloves for Alexia. Quirrell did most of the shopping while Alexia hung by him looking around the shop.

Next stop was Flourish and Blotts, to get books. Quirrell led her to the door and said, "Flourish and Blotts stock all of the books for Hogwarts students, so we can get your spell books here. Vol- er, Joe and I only have mostly advanced magic books." He looked around to make sure no one had heard him nearly let slip Voldemort's name.

Flourish and Blotts was a cramped and rather cluttered book store, with shelves filled with books among a few tables here and there but Quirrell seemed to know his way around. "We need Standard Books of Spells, ah here we are, may as well get all seven of them while we're here." They had arrived at a shelf that was mostly dedicated to the Miranda Goshawk books and Quirrell took one of each of the books. Muttering more to himself than to Alexia most of the time Quirrell had found most of the books Alexia would need and they were at the counter about to pay for them.

The clerk looked at the unusually large pile of books and asked "Hogwarts?"

"Following the Hogwarts curriculum but homeschooled," replied Quirrell.

The clerk looked up at Quirrell and was surprised at seeing Quirrell under the hood but recovered quickly and said, "Well, I was asking because the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year is Gilderoy Lockhart, all of his books are the book set for this year. He's in here right now in the magical creature section researching something if you want to see him."

"Really?" asked Quirrell. "Well I guess we'll go over and see him then, may as well pay for these now while we're here though." He said. Carrying the books Quirrell and Alexia went and found Lockhart, who wasn't making himself very hard to find.

Lockhart was in the Magical Creatures section sitting at a table piled with many of his books on display, with a beaming Lockhart looking out of every cover. He had tried his best (and succeeded) at looking as handsome as any wizard possibly could with hair almost as perfect as Zac Efron's and the most stylish robes Galleons could buy. Quirrell grabbed a copy of all of Lockhart's books off of the nearby shelf and walked up to him. "Hello," said Quirrell.

Lockhart looked up from his book and beamed at Quirrell and said, "Oh, hello! May I help you? Like me to autograph those?" Lockhart looked over at Alexia and gave her a warm dazzling smile that would've made her sigh dreamily if she hadn't been so preoccupied and wound up about being turned into a Death Eater or possibly killed. "Are you a Hogwarts student starting a little late?"

"No, she's being homeschooled," said Quirrell. "About the autogr- what're you reading?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm reading Twilight; I needed to brush up a little bit on vampires. Some students like that night troll girl think they can lecture me on my own subject so I decided to do some research." Quirrell was speechless for a few seconds while Lockhart continued to smile them and Alexia ducked behind a bookshelf trying not to laugh at Quirrell's expression.

When he had regained his ability to speak Quirrell said, "Oh, uh, look at my wrist we have to go, busy day too much to do see you later." He hurried out of the isle leaving behind a disappointed looking Lockhart and dragging a still giggling Alexia. He put the stack of Lockhart books down on a random table and left Flourish and Blotts as quickly as possible. "Reading Twilight for research, honestly," he muttered once they were outside. "I can't believe McGonagall would hire him, they really must be running out of applicants.

"Now for your robes, just in case we ever need to go out into the wizarding world it'll be nice for you not to be dressed as a muggle." They walked a little ways until they came to the front of a store that read Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions.

When they walked in Madam Malkins herself greeted them. "Hello, going to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"No, she's going to be homeschooled. We just need some plain robes for her."

"Oh," replied Madam Malkins looked a little surprised. "Come over here so I can get you fitted dear." She said beckoning Alexia over to a stool. Madam Malkins slipped a black robe over Alexia's head and began pinning it to the right length. After a few minutes of working in silence she said, "All done. Off you go." Alexia jumped down from the stool and took off the newly fitted robes and folded them into a neat pile. Quirrell paid for them and they walked outside.

"Last place to go is Ollivander's for your wand." Quirrell led her down the street to Ollivander's and pushed open the door. A bell tinkled as they walked in announcing their presence.

"Hello," said a soft voice behind Alexia making her jump. "Here for a wand?" Mr. Ollivander asked. Alexia nodded as Mr. Ollivander took out a measuring tape that started measuring her height on its own. Ollivander was searching in the mass of shelves and boxes for a wand he thought would suit her. When the measuring tape was done he came over carrying a pile of boxes. Taking a wand out of the top box he handed her the wand "Here, just give it a wave." Alexia took it and Ollivander snatched it out of her hand.

"What was wrong with it"" asked Alexia looking puzzled.

"The wand chooses the wizard, that wand did not choose you. You'll know when we've found the right one." After having Alexia wave a few more wands Ollivander said, "Ah, maybe this one will be it. Willow and kelpie hair, has an unusual core but it's a good all around wand, nine inches." Alexia took it and this time waved it and felt warmth flow down her arm as it spouted blue and green sparks. Quirrell and Ollivander clapped as Alexia stared in amazement at her wand. "Knew we'd find the perfect match somewhere," said Ollivander. Quirrell paid seven Galleons for her wand as Ollivander packed it back into the box.

Leaving Ollivander's now burdened down with various packages, boxes, and bags Quirrell and Alexia headed back to The Leaky Cauldron. Quirrell sighed and looked at his wrist forgetting he wasn't wearing a watch and said, "I haven't a clue what time it is but it's been a long day. Do you need anything to eat?"

"No, I can wait until we get home," replied Alexia. Going back on her plan she didn't try to get away from Quirrell, he was watching her too closely and she doubted anyone would want her after seeing who she was with. She'd have to run for it in the middle of the night.

They got back to the car and Quirrell, preferring not to look like some crazy LARPer, took off his wizarding robes and got in. All of Alexia's stuff went into the now very full trunk except for Standard Book of Spells Grade One which she read during the drive back.

Finally they arrived back home, and Alexia noticed for the first time how nice the house was with a beautiful flower bed out front and wished she could stay more than ever. Alexia bookmarked her book and they got out and helped carried her things to the door while Quirrell carried some of the books and levitated her trunk. Voldemort must've been expecting them because he opened the door and asked "Need any help?"

"No, we're good," replied Quirrell. "What did you make for dinner?"

"Just leftovers, we had a lot of soup left. I made some bread to go with it though." Voldemort closed the door after them as they dumped her stuff in the living room to take care of after dinner.

"So, how'd it go?" asked Voldemort as he served the bread/soup.

"Fairly well," replied Quirrell. "We got books, the potion ingredients we were running out of, some robes, and a wand. Willow with kelpie hair, nine inches."

"Good," said Voldemort. They ate in silence for the next few minutes, while Alexia marveled at how good a cook Voldemort was.

"Thanks," said Voldemort, making Alexia jump. "Since I'm stuck inside so much I do most of the cooking/cleaning around here, so I've gotten quite good at cooking, I'm glad you're enjoying it." Alexia continued to stare at Voldemort while Quirrell looked like he was trying not to laugh. "I'm skilled in the branch of magic called Legilimency. It's like reading minds, only reading thoughts, feelings, and emotions, hence why I can tell that you love my cooking and that you're planning on running away tonight." Dead silence followed this statement while Alexia and Quirrell stared at Voldemort.

"Is this true?" asked Quirrell turning towards Alexia. "What happened?" Alexia had a deer-in-the-headlights expression and she knew it.

"You killed Cedric!" she squeaked in a high pitched voice. "What're you going to do to me? Turn me into a Death Eater or something? I had no idea you would kill a student, I was planning on running away because I will never become a Death Eater so you may as well kill me right now!" Quirrell looked almost paralyzed with shock while Voldemort took control of the conversation.

"First of all, Quirrell didn't kill Cedric, that was me." Alexia opened her mouth to say something but Voldemort cut her off "No, let me finish. While I was sharing a body with Quirrell I could still use magic, that's how I killed Cedric. Also, it's hard to prove but I've really changed, there's a reason why Quirrell doesn't call me Lord Voldemort or Dark Lord or any of those, because I'm not anymore. I honestly don't care about ruling the world or purifying the wizarding world of muggle-borns."

"Prove it," said Alexia in a small voice.

"You'll need to relax in order for that to happen, because right now when you're a nervous wreck you barely pick up on any emotions at all. Would I be right in saying that you've barely gotten any mood swings today even though you've been surrounded by wizards?"

Comprehension dawned on Alexia's and Quirrell's faces. "I was wondering about that," commented Quirrell. "You've been an unchanging wreck today; I thought something might've been up that you weren't telling me about."

"Okay," said Alexia, letting herself relax a little bit. Emotions from Voldemort and Quirrell came flooding into her. Quirrell was concerned and slightly hurt and Voldemort was also concerned about her, which surprised her. It couldn't have been clearer that they had never wanted to hurt her. "You guys really care about me." She said. "I'm so sorry about doubting you and-"

"It's okay," soothed Quirrell. "Being a little freaked out at discovering the person adopting you was thrown in prison for a murder is natural." Alexia laughed a little with relief.

"And another thing to keep your mind at ease," added Voldemort. "Want to know the reason why I'm here after Harry killed me?"

"Sure."

"When I was sharing a body with Quirrell we were planning all year on getting me a new body. It worked, but we'd been sharing a body too long and I'd been living off of his soul too long as well. That night in the graveyard when we split part of my soul stayed with Quirrell, because… we were too attached, we loved each other too much to ever be fully apart." Alexia looked from Voldemort to Quirrell with widened eyes. Voldemort was looking at Quirrell with a loving smile and Quirrell smiled back. "There's a reason why I don't care about ruling the world anymore, I have all I need right here with Quirrell."

Alexia continued to stare blankly at them while she processed this. Quirrell turned away from Voldemort and said, "So, are you up to starting your magical education tomorrow?"

"Yes," replied Alexia, wondering what other things were in store for her in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

**ANNOUNCEMENT: This is the last chapter you'll see from me for awhile, due to some stuff that's be happening I won't be able to write until January, I'm surprised that this got done in time. Please review I'd love to hear your opinions on this.**

"Now that we've gotten that sappy friendship moment over with, you should take your stuff upstairs," said Voldemort as they finished dinner and cleared away the dishes (this time without Voldemort breaking them). "Your trunk can go in your room but the magical stuff should go downstairs in the dungeon."

"Y-you have a dungeon?" asked Alexia.

"It's where we keep all of our not-so-muggle-friendly things, spellbooks, potions, you get the idea," replied Quirrell. "It has a lot of muggle repelling/security charms on it and it's impossible to access from outside the house. It's located downstairs in the basement."

"Oh, okay," said Alexia feeling relieved. Voldemort had taken her trunk upstairs and now they were headed down into "the dungeon".

Quirrell, Voldemort, and Alexia all headed downstairs into a surprisingly large basement that was cluttered with magical junk. It was obviously a wizard's study/lab with pieces of parchment, quills, cauldrons, potion ingredients and books scattered all over the various tables in the room. Meanwhile there were bookshelves along the far edge of the room packed with spellbooks, handbooks, guides and many other reference books. Potion bottles and ingredients were organized on shelves on the other sides of the basement. Alexia wandered around and eventually came to the bookshelves and began looking at Voldemort and Quirrell's miniature library. They had everything from magical plants to hexes to the history of magic to… romance novels?

Calling out to Voldemort and Quirrell who were busy sorting the potion ingredients Quirrell had bought at the apothecary, Alexia asked, "Hey, why are there romance novels over here?"

Voldemort sighed and said, "Those are all of Quirrell's overflow romance novels that didn't fit upstairs in his muggle office or in our room. It's almost disturbing how expansive his collection is."

Quirrell put down what he was sorting onto the potion shelves and hugged Voldemort from behind with a mischievous glint to his eyes and said, "Are you about to tell me that love isn't magical, Voldie?"

"Not when it's the one reason I'm still alive," replied Voldemort, glancing over his shoulder at Quirrell. Quirrell smiled and put his head on Voldemort's shoulder watching Voldemort continue to sort potion components upon the shelf.

Alexia thought it was really sweet that Quirrell and Voldemort were affectionate but was starting to feel awkward because of the warm fuzzies she was picking up and tried and change the subject. "Wow, this basement is a lot bigger than you'd think considering the size of the house."

"It's an extra-spacial basement," said Voldemort.

"Oh cool," replied Alexia. Without really thinking she added, "As long as we never put a bag of holding in here we're good."

"You mean like that bag of holding over there by the door?" asked Quirrell with a puzzled look. "What's wrong with it?"

Alexia looked to the door with an alarmed expression on her face and saw an innocent-looking sack sitting next to the door. "If you put an extra-spacial object inside of another extra-spacial object it will… oh never mind." Alexia continued to look at the books and hoped that she'd never accidentally quote the Dungeons and Dragons books that some nerdy person had given her again now that she was learning real magic.

"Hey Quirrell," said Voldemort after awhile. "Are you going to help me sort these or do I have to do this all by myself?"

"Hmmm?" Quirrell had almost fallen asleep on Voldemort's shoulder.

Voldemort sighed and said, "Okay then, looks like we should call it a night and get some sleep." He picked Quirrell up and carried him upstairs while Alexia followed. Once they were on the ground or middle floor Voldemort turned to Alexia and said, "Up the stairs and to the first door on the right is your room, as you already know. The room next to it is the room Quirrell and I share, and across the hall is Quirrell's office. Bathroom's at the end. Got it?"

"Yeaaahhhh" yawned Alexia as she slumped her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. She shut her door and opened the window to get a breeze even though it was chilly outside. Alexia then crawled into her bed and fell asleep immediately.

Meanwhile, Voldemort carried Quirrell into their room and laid him down gently on the bed. Quirrell opened his eyes tiredly and figured out where he was. "Goodnight," he mumbled as Voldemort crawled in beside him. Eventually both of them drifted off back to back, old habits die hard.

A few hours later, around 2 AM, Voldemort was awakened by Quirrell who was twitching, muttering, and sobbing quietly in his sleep, all the signs that Quirrell was having a nightmare about Azkaban again. Voldemort rolled over to face Quirrell's back and tried to gently wake him up. "Hey Quirrell, c'mon, wakey wakey," said Voldemort still half asleep and sounding a little drunk. He nudged Quirrell a bit and instead of gently waking him up Quirrell jumped up and shrieked. Looking around wide-eyed Quirrell was shaking and breathing rapidly. Voldemort sat up next to Quirrell and fished out a bag of chocolate out from under the bed for whenever Quirrell needed it. Voldemort found a piece of milk chocolate and gave it to Quirrell who was curled up on Voldemort's lap by this point.

After a few minutes of Quirrell being held by Voldemort and eating chocolate Quirrell said, "Uh-oh, should we check on Alexia? That Azkaban dream was pretty bad."

"Yeah we should, I'll go downstairs and make some hot chocolate while you go and wake her up." Voldemort walked downstairs into the kitchen and started on the hot chocolate while Quirrell walked to Alexia's room and opened the door as quietly as he could.

Alexia was tossing, twitching, muttering, and crying softly in her sleep. Quirrell stared for a moment and wondered if that was what he looked like when he dreamed about Azkaban. Quirrell walked over and whispered, "Alexia?" and reached out to shake her awake when _WHUMP! _Her pillow arched out from under her head fast as lightning and swatted Quirrell square in the face. Still startled Alexia jumped in the same movement off of the bed and slammed head first into the wall.

Voldemort came bursting into the room still carrying the bag of chocolate and and shouted, "WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HERE?"

Quirrell looked dazed from being whacked in the face and Alexia was shaking looking like a scared rabbit with a bad headache. "I was startled when Quirrell came in and I hit him in the face with a pillow and tried to jump out the window," she said. "From years of living with my uncle if he comes in my room in the middle of the night I hit him with something and run for it."

"Don't you live on the second floor in his house too?" asked Quirrell who sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah."

"How do you survive the fall?"

"I throw myself at the ground and miss," she replied meekly. Quirrell looked even more confused but Voldemort had an impressed expression.

"I've never met anyone else who successfully pulled that off," Voldemort commented. "You'd be amazed how many wizards I've seen jump of cliffs and expect to get it right the first time they try… or is it the last…?" Quirrell's gaze shifted to Voldemort, an expression of absolute mortification was frozen upon his face.

Alexia was still a shaky wreck trying not to cry; Quirrell noticed this and said, "Come here." Alexia obediently came over and let Quirrell hold her while she sobbed quietly in his arms.

Voldemort took a Reese's peanut butter cup out of the bag of candy and said, "Eat chocolate" as he tossed it at her. It hit her lightly in the head and she stared it at with a confused look as it fell into her lap. "Chocolate is the number one thing that helps with dementor encounters. Quirrell was having a nightmare about dementors and you picked up on it. The chocolate will help; I'm going to finish making the hot cocoa." Voldemort walked back downstairs into the kitchen while Alexia ate the chocolate, which helped much more than she thought it would.

"I'm sorry about hitting you with the pillow earlier," Alexia said after a few minutes sniffling a little.

"It's okay, you were just frightened," replied Quirrell.

Voldemort came up carrying three cups of hot chocolate and noticed how cold it was with the window open. "Yeesh, it feels like Azkaban in here, do you mind if I close the window?" Quirrell shot him a nasty look and Voldemort realized how tactless that comment had been. "Sorry," he said as he handed Quirrell and Alexia some hot cocoa and shut the window.

Alexia was still crying on Quirrell's shoulder and Quirrell said, "Sorry, I keep dreaming about Azkaban, I can't seem to get it out of my head."

"It's… like I'm crying, the tears keep coming out but I want them to go back in, it's like I'M CRYING," she repeated while trying to pull herself together. After awhile when she was feeling better and had stopped crying for the most part Alexia was feeling tired again after drinking hot chocolate and started drifting off in Quirrell's arms.

"You should go back to sleep," said Quirrell.

"You're so warm though," replied Alexia who felt extremely comfortable didn't want to move at all.

"Here's an extra blanket," said Voldemort who conjured one out of thin air and handed it to her. "You want the window back open?" Alexia nodded as she crawled back into bed. Voldemort opened the window back up and got out of the room before he got too cold. Quirrell followed him and shut the door behind him.

When Quirrell and Voldemort were back in bed Voldemort asked, "You need any more chocolate or are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Quirrell said quietly still feeling a little shaken, the Azkaban dreams got worse every time. Voldemort held Quirrell until he fell asleep knowing that Quirrell needed all the rest he could get.

The following morning everyone got up later than usual due to the interrupted night. Alexia got up the latest again to find Voldemort making a cauldron of coffee in the kitchen while Quirrell sat at the table correcting tests, Alexia had almost forgotten he taught at her muggle school. Quirrell looked better than expected considering the nightmares but he was used to it by now. As alexia walked into the kitchen Quirrell looked up from his work and gave her a tired but warm smile, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Okay," Alexia replied knowing that Quirrell's night had probably been worse. "Uh, I'm really sorry about hitting you with the pillow last night."

"I'm fine, no harm done," said Quirrell. "Too bad you couldn't play Quidditch at Hogwarts, you'd make a great Beater with an arm like that. We could probably teach you how to play here as long as we don't fly too high."

"Brooms are required, even though we," Voldemort pointed to himself and then Alexia, "can fly without them," Voldemort finished as he ladled coffee into mugs and started toasting bread by zapping them with his wand. "I never played Quidditch while I was at Hogwarts, I've always been a good flier but I preferred to focus on academics."

"Libraries always were our favorite haunts," interjected Quirrell, "Well, there were always the greenhouses, but I couldn't go there often when Voldemort was on my head." Quirrell cupped a hand around Alexia's ear and whispered, "Our nose-less friend has some serious allergies"

"I heard that," commented Voldemort as he set the table with a flourish of his wand. As they ate Quirrell and Voldemort described the subjects taught at Hogwarts (and Hogwarts in general).

During a lull in the conversation Alexia looked a little worried and said, "Um, I have something I need to tell you." Voldemort and Quirrell braced themselves for the worst; they had after all just adopted a preteen girl. To their surprise Alexia held up a white rabbit that had been on her lap that was enjoying a piece of lettuce.

Quirrell's "Awww" was drowned out by Voldemort's "Where the hell did that come from?"

"She's my pet rabbit and I think she found me here she's really smart, I've had her for three years and her name is Alice and she's really well-behaved and house-trained and even my uncle doesn't mind her around because she never makes a mess and can take care of herself I promise to-"

"Okay, okay you can keep her," said Voldemort holding up his hand to stop the flow of information about the bunny. Alexia looked delighted as she fed Alice some more lettuce from the fridge. "Looks like we'll need to keep more vegetables in the house."

"Alice can get her own food out in the garden," said Alexia.

"That's a bad idea," interjected Quirrell.

"I can get her not to eat your favorite plants-"

"No, I mean I'm concerned about what might eat HER," said Quirrell. "You're forgetting that the magical garden is out back, there're some muggle plants out there too but half of the yard is pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

"If I tell her what to avoid she'll stay away from the dangerous plants, she's super smart."

"If you're sure," replied Quirrell. Alice leapt out of Alexia's arms and began to wander around sniffing Voldemort and Quirrell. Quirrell actually picked her up and pet her but Voldemort did his best to ignore the fact that a fluffy white bunny was wandering around the house.

After breakfast Quirrell and Voldemort took Alexia out into their exotic garden, and it took Alexia's breath away. Vivid colors popped out from each blossom, some plants even moved a bit. Quirrell gave Alexia a tour and told her where Alice could eat and should be safe.

Leaving the newly educated bunny out in the garden Quirrell, Voldemort, and Alexia went down stairs into the dungeon where her lessons would be held pretty much whenever she had extra time. Quirrell started by going over what she'd be learning (with interruptions/clarifications from Voldemort) and got the hexes/jinxes.

"Aside from charms and enchantments, there are also spells called hexes and jinxes. They're spells that temporarily inflict the receiver with negative side effects. Some of them have cures or counter curses, but with others the only thing to do is wait for the effects to go away and maybe pull up a bucket." Alexia took notes as Quirrell rambled on and wrote on a chalk board. Voldemort sat across from Alexia looking bored.

"Example," Voldemort cut in pointing his wand under the table at Quirrell, _"Jelly-Legs Jinx!"_

"Woah! _Unjellify," _said Quirrell has he hastily pulled out his wand before he fell over. Still trying to recover his balance he said, "Would you please warn me next time?"

"But it's so much more fun to catch you by surprise," replied Voldemort.

Quirrell rolled his eyes. "I love you too."

"When will I be learning that sort of thing?" Alexia asked trying to change the subject; she didn't trust herself around people who were feeling affectionate, even if just goofing around.

"We'll start you off with some basic spells and theory, knowing the theory to a spell can help you perform it better," said Quirrell.

"I've been thinking about teaching you something advanced and obscure early on," said Voldemort with a thoughtful look. "You remember when I told you about Legilimency?" Alexia nodded and he continued on. "Well, the opposite of that called Occlumency, it's where instead of attacking someone's mind you're defending yourself from anyone who is a Legimens. With your oversensitive empathy, maybe Occlumency would help you block out what you're getting from around you. I'm not sure it'll work but we can give it a try."

"Oh, I'm an idiot," said Quirrell looking like he'd just remembered something. "Since I'm adopting you, you can't be in my Myth and Legend class anymore, conflict of interest. So you either have to go into choir or art."

"I guess I'll go with art," said Alexia with a gloomy expression. "I love your class though."

"What you're going to be learning here should make up for it," he replied.

Over the next month Quirrell and Voldemort started teaching Alexia as if she were at Hogwarts, only going at a slightly faster pace. By the time winter break came around she was getting good at some simple potions and charms/spells. The Occlumency lessons were helping a little, but that didn't stop Alexia from getting flooded with emotions while at school.

At the start of break Quirrell, Voldemort, and Alexia were eating breakfast when the magic detectors by the door starting going off, indicating that someone was apparating to their house. Voldemort disapparated downstairs into the dungeon with his breakfast wanting to avoid trouble while Alexia and Quirrell remained at the table acting as if nothing was wrong. They heard a few thuds from their porch, it sounded like a group of people had tried to Apparate but fell over in a pile once they'd reached their location. Voices that were familiar to Quirrell started talking outside.

"Ouch! I dropped my snack."

"Hey get off of my guitar!"

"I think I need a new diaper…"

"Oh shut up Malfoy, if you guys had listened to me and followed what the book said about apparating then we would've done it perfectly!"

Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione burst through the front door. Hermione ignored Alexia and addressed Quirrell sharply, "What do you know about Voldemort? We know he's still alive!"

At the same time Harry's scar started to hurt and he dropped his guitar, clamped his hands to his forehead, and started yelling "Ow ow ow!"


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER! I own only the OCs in this fic, anything Starkid or Harry Potter belongs to Starkid or J. K. Rowling. ALSO: I'd say this fic/chapter is rated PG-13/T, there's nothing too bad in here but there is a little, just a warning. Along those lines if you're reading this I assume you don't mind Quirrellmort, so I'll also assume that minor PDA doesn't bother you.

"See!" yelled Hermione "Proof that Voldemort is here!"

"Besides his scar hurting what other 'proof' do you have?" asked Quirrell remaining remarkably calm and hoping Alexia would too.

"With the exception to Bellatrix Lestrange you know Voldemort the best," interjected Harry as he picked his guitar up checking it for any damage. "We came here with the hunch that you knew more about Voldemort than you were telling anyone and now it turns out that he's here!"

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all pointed their wands at Quirrell looking ready to torture the information out of him while Draco noticed Alexia sitting at the table beside Quirrell looking pale. "Who's this girl?" he asked pointing at Alexia. Alexia nervously stroked Alice who had hopped into her lap and didn't say anything in fear of having a nuclear meltdown in front of a group of teenagers she didn't even know.

"She doesn't matter right now," said Ron. "What matters is knowing where Voldemort is, if you don't tell us willingly we'll use every curse we know on you and your kid."

At that moment Voldemort apparated from downstairs and landed next to Quirrell with his wand out, "Don't you dare hurt either of them!" he snarled at Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Harry.

Alexia jumped as he landed and Quirrell looked at Voldemort with an alarmed expression on his face. "Voldemort, what are you doing up here!" Quirrell hissed. "Did you think I couldn't handle four teenagers by myself?"

"I was worried about you, and you couldn't protect yourself and Alexia."

The kids looked a little taken aback at Voldemort being concerned about Quirrell but recovered quickly. "See!" shouted Harry. "We knew you had something to do with Voldemort!"

"I can explain this, but none of you would believe it!" said Quirrell.

"Oh really?" said Hermione looking skeptical. "Try us."

Quirrell suddenly stood up and before anyone could register what was going on he wrapped his arms around Voldemort's waist. Voldemort in turn pulled Quirrell close to him and kissed Quirrell full on the mouth. Quirrell had a slight look of surprise on his face that only Alexia and Voldemort noticed before he titled his head and kissed Voldemort back, both closing their eyes as they employed their tongues in the kiss.

A little while later Voldemort and Quirrell stopped kissing and opened their eyes, still holding each other. Voldemort looked at Quirrell with a soft, loving expression as Quirrell smiled back at him and rested his head on Voldemort's shoulder. Both of them looked over to see all of the kids (including Alexia) looking like they had the post time travel shits.

Harry was in a silent state of shock as he looked from Voldemort to Quirrell mouthing words that wouldn't come out. Ron and Hermione simply stood rooted to the spot not able to comprehend what they saw while Alexia had to turn away from the Hogwarts students while trying not to laugh at their expressions. Draco recovered the fastest and muttered something about having to use the potty and went upstairs to the bathroom. Voldemort turned towards them and said, "Are you convinced that I'm not here to kill you all? Quirrell and I are in love, is that a good enough reason for staying alive to you, Potter?"

Once he was able to speak, Harry replied, "But you said you didn't have anyone you missed or regretted right before I killed you, again."

"Well," said Voldemort looking a little awkward "I just didn't want to admit it, but I feel differently now. I really don't care about ruling the world anymore, I could kill you right now but I don't see any reason to, unless if you're planning on telling the entire Wizarding World about Quirrell and I."

"Why wouldn't Harry want to report you two?" asked Ron.

Quirrell looked over at Ron and replied, "One, no one would believe Voldemort is still alive, let alone in love with me. And B, do you guys really want to deal with the entire Wizarding World going into panic mode again for nothing?"

"I, uh, guess not," said Harry.

"How about you guys go sit in the living room, I'll bring some food out," said Voldemort as he released Quirrell and walked into the kitchen while everyone else found somewhere to sit in the living room.

Voldemort came back with a tea set and put it on the coffee table and then sat next to Quirrell who immediately snuggled up next to him.

Before anyone could start a conversation they heard a creak on the stairs and a high pitched voice that was definitely not Draco's say, "Voldemort and Quirrell kissing was the cutest thing I've ever seen." Alexia turned around and for the first time noticed that Draco was wearing a beaten up old brown wizard's hat on his head and an even weirder rainbow scarf around his neck. The rainbow scarf opened its mouth and continued, "I would've spoken up earlier but I didn't want to ruin the Kodak moment."

Quirrell noticed the scarf for the first time as well but instead of being confused like Alexia smiled and said, "Hello there Scarfy, it's been forever since I've seen you around, I heard you and Sorty got married!"

"Yeah, we just got back from our honeymoon, we took the year off" replied Sorty. Draco walked over and put Scarfy and Sorty on Quirrell and tried to sit between Hermione and Ron but got pushed away by Ron and sat next to Harry instead.

"So, how did this happen?" asked Ron as he gestured at Voldemort and Quirrell.

"Voldemort convinced me to go out drinking and try to pick up some chicks because despite all of the romance novels I read my sex life is incredibly boring…" (Scarfy nodded after this statement.)

"And we both got pretty drunk and went home early; we only talked to a couple of people…"

"And when we got home something just sort of, clicked," finished Quirrell as Voldemort put his arm around him. Looking at the expressions on the kid's faces he said, "Remember what Jane Austen once said, sometimes your one true love turns out to be the person you _initially _disliked." Ron nodded looking convinced and glanced at Hermione. "Anyway, that's what happened with us, how did you guys know Voldemort was here?"

"Do you know Professor Lockhart?" asked Hermione. Voldemort and Quirrell both nodded and she continued, "Well, McGonagall fired him, she finally snapped after he tried to teach the class that vampires sparkled and are Hufflepuffs that returned from the dead."

For the first time since Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Harry showed up Alexia spoke up, "When Quirrell and I were out getting some things for me at Diagon Alley we saw him in Flourish and Blotts reading Twilight to research vampires."

"What does that have to do with you people knowing I'm still alive?" asked Voldemort.

"You put a curse on the Defense against the Dark Arts post," replied Harry. "No teacher has lasted for more than a year since you cursed it. McGonagall is having trouble finding another replacement, the only other obvious candidate was Mad-Eye moody, but he's dead. And NO you can't make him an Inferi so he can come back to teach," said Harry as Voldemort opened up his mouth to say something and then closed it looking disappointed.

Hermione looked over at Quirrell and said, "You could probably come back to teach if you wanted."

"Not if I have to teach you guys," Quirrell replied.

"He's got a point," said Draco. "Even though I'm two years older I still wouldn't want to teach any of you."

Quirrell looked over at him and asked, "How are you two years older?"

"I went back in time to Harry's first year at Hogwarts a couple of months ago, and this is the me that finally caught up to present times."

"And yet you still don't look a day past puberty Milroy," commented Voldemort causing everyone else in the room to snigger. Draco blushed but couldn't really argue with him.

"Okay then, you answered the question of why you guys are here but how did you get here?" asked Quirrell breaking up the awkward lull in the conversation.

"That's where we come in," piped up Sorty from on top of Quirrell's head.

"You see, life around the castle after the Sorting at the beginning of the year is pretty boring without old Dumbledear around," said Scarfy as Alexia had a look of comprehension when he had said "Sorting". "So we took to hanging around the students, even though many of them are creeped out by us for some absurd reason."

"Then we found out that these kids wanted to come and see you, Quirrell, and we decided to bring them here by side-along apparation."

"It was something to do, and how could Sorty and I ever resist the opportunity to visit our favorite gay bookworm?" asked Scarfy ruffling Quirrell's hair.

"Aw, thanks you guys, that's so sweet," said Quirrell.

"Wait a minute," Ron broke in "You hang out with Scarfy and Sorty?"

"Of course," replied Quirrell "They're two of my three best friends I had at Hogwarts. I've always been a bit of a social outcast, seeing as I'm gay and enjoy romance novels and flowers. We were practically inseparable; I ended up have the orientation of every single person who went to that school for seven years _memorized_."

"Ohhhhh," said Voldemort with a look of dawning comprehension on his face "THAT'S why you'll start reciting orientations in your sleep, I've been wondering about it since I was attached to you." Quirrell looked sheepish and nodded as Scarfy continued.

"Sorty and I have a thing for gay wizards," said Scarfy "They're so much more interesting than the regular douche bags who play guitars, or who wear shirts that say 'Bedazzle' on them."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with a shirt that says 'Bedazzle'!" said Harry who always stood up for any character Zac Efron played.

"So," said Hermione breaking in before an argument about fashion broke out "If Scarfy and Sorty were two of your best friends you had at Hogwarts, who was the third?"

"Moaning Myrtle."

Everyone from Hogwarts winced and said "I'm sorry" at the same time Voldemort said "You're welcome."

As Quirrell stared at Voldemort in horror as Voldemort said, "It was an accident, I was going to release the monster of Slytherin out of the Chamber of Secrets to kill all of the Mud-er, muggle-borns in the school, and she happened to be there in the bathroom. She probably would've died anyway though if the monster had gone through the school being a muggle-born herself."

"Wow, I had no idea that the hidden swimming pool in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was the Chamber of Secrets," said Sorty "We used to go down there all the time with Dumbledore."

"It would definitely explain all of the snake decorations around the pool and that huge statue of Salazar Slytherin in the back," said Scarfy.

"Hey," said Draco looking at Alexia with curiosity "If you're a witch, why haven't I seen you at Hogwarts?"

Scarfy took a good look at Alexia for the first time noticing her slight resemblance to Quirrell due to her brown hair and skin tone and said in shock "Quirinus Quirrell! I never knew you had a kid, decided to try it with a girl, huh?"

"No Scarfy, I've never been married-"

"Oh, she's your bastard."

"NO, SHE'S ADDOPTED!" shouted Quirrell over Scarfy trying to talk again and Voldemort and Alexia laughing uncontrollably.

When she had enough breath to talk Alexia said, "My parents were both purebloods, but they died in a car crash when I was one."

Harry choked on his tea and said in alarm, "Was there a crocodile?"

"No…" replied Alexia giving him a weird look while she stroked Alice who had fallen asleep in her lap. "They put a curse in their will that made it so that if they died it'd be physically impossible for me to go to a wizarding school so I'd have to find a person tutor, and I ended up getting adopted by Voldemort and Quirrell after Quirrell found me at the muggle middle school."

Voldemort got up and said, "I'm getting some biscuits," as he walked into the kitchen. When he came back carrying a tray with only four biscuits on it he gave Alexia a very strong look that said _you touch one of these and I kill you_. He set the tray down on the coffee table in front of Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco. Since they fully trusted Voldemort now all four of them reached for a biscuit right as Voldemort said with a smirk, "Have fun at Hogsmeade." Before they registered what he said they all touched a biscuit and vanished with startled looks.

**Hey guys, wow it's been awhile, I hope you all enjoyed this, whether I improved or slipped on my writing is up to you to decide, I know this has been mostly dialogue. Scarfy and Sorty are too awesome not to have show up, and if you're confused you need to go and watch Potter Sequel. **

**Btw, "Bedazzle" on a T-shirt is a 17 Again thing, just in case some of you haven't seen it, although a lot of you probably guessed it when Zefron was mentioned.**

**That would be all until any other random update/comment I might add here, and to please R and R!**

**EDIT: I found a mistake already, I said Alligator instead of crocodile, I fixed it.**


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER! Wow, I've been getting a lot done in the last few days; I hope you guys are enjoying it! All the Starkid stuff belongs to Starkid and HP stuff belongs to J. K. Rowling. Yet again there is some minor PDA that I hope doesn't bother anyone.

"Portkey biscuits, now that's a new one," said Sorty.

"I was getting really tired of them," said Voldemort as he sat down next to Quirrell with a sigh.

"What's a Portkey?" asked Alexia.

"I keep forgetting how much you don't know about the magical world," commented Quirrell. "A Portkey is an enchanted object that will transport anyone who touches it to a different location of the choosing of whoever enchanted it. And sometimes if you touch the Portkey again it will take you back to where you started."

"And remember, a Portkey can be any seemingly harmless object, like a football, or a dolphin, or in this case, a biscuit," said Voldemort.

"I still can't believe you two got together," broke in Scarfy. "You two are as different as can be. It's super sweet though."

"Yeah, I had no idea we'd be best friends but it turns out we got a long a lot better than we thought," replied Voldemort.

"We're practically soul mates," added Quirrell as Voldemort grimaced and said,

"I thought we were DONE with the bad puns!"

"Sorry Voldie I couldn't resist."

Sorty looked up at the clock in the living room and said, "Scarfy, we'd better get back to Hogwarts, it's getting late."

"Oh okay," replied Scarfy looking disappointed at having to leave. "We'll see you guys soon, I love you Quirrell!" he added as him and Sorty disapparated out of their house.

"Well, that was… interesting," said Quirrell with a grin.

"You started it!"

"What're you talking about? I was just going to give you a hug," said Quirrell trying not to laugh.

There was an awkward pause while Alexia and Quirrell tried not to laugh before Voldemort said, "Oh, well, uh, you didn't seem to mind it at least."

Quirrell widened his eyes and said, "Why on Earth would I mind? If I knew that you'd be that affectionate when we had company I'd be sending out invites to them every weekend."

"What, do you mean I'm not affectionate when no one else is here?" Voldemort asked as he took Quirrell in his arms and kissed him again.

Quirrell smiled after they broke apart and said, "That's better."

"Don't worry, I don't have a nosebleed," called out Alexia from the other end of the room.

"Good to know," said Voldemort. "I'm glad that the Occlumency lessons are improving your control over the emotions you feel and act upon. We'll work on it more tomorrow though, it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah, I want to go to bed," said Quirrell playfully as he cuddled up to Voldemort and kissed him, seeming unable to hold back to rush of affection he was getting.

"Would it help you two if I slept downstairs in the dungeon tonight?" asked Alexia. "There's a really comfy sleeping bag down there and I wouldn't be next to you guys if you er… wanted to be left alone." Voldemort and Quirrell never talked about it but Alexia could tell that one of the reasons why they usually weren't affectionate was because of her being an empath and just the fact that she was an eleven year old kid living with them.

"You don't have to," said Voldemort as he and Quirrell took a short break. "We're just cuddling, nothing more."

"It's okay, I'll go down anyway, you guys need the time alone," she replied as they started kissing again.

Alexia headed downstairs to the dungeon carrying Alice with her. She opened the door and found the magically enhanced sleeping bag in the corner and set it up near her pile of notes on spells and potions. Alice hopped in next to her inside the sleeping bag as Alexia zipped it up and lay down. She gently scratched Alice behind the ears and started to talk out loud to her, even though Alice seemed to be able to read her mind.

"So, how do you like it here Alice?"

Alice looked Alexia in the eyes and sent her a thought _'It's much better than being at your uncle's house, but now I worry about you even more when you're at school since you don't even have Quirrell's class anymore.'_

"Yeah, and the art teacher doesn't seem to like me very much, maybe because I draw too many dragons and goblins," said Alexia. The spell books had come in handy for art homework but she got the feeling that all of the fantasy was starting to get on the teacher's nerves.

'_No, I mean that at school you're all alone except for when Quirrell takes you to and from. I worry about you because no one there understands you or could help you if something went wrong, magically or emotionally. That and there's a lot of bullies on the campus whose life goal is to make you miserable.'_

"I know it seems pretty bad, but I make it through."

'_I'd feel better to know that you had at least one friend there, even if they are a muggle it'd help you a lot.'_

Alexia sighed and said, "Who's going to want to be friends with me? I'm a freak. I've given up on making friends, they never last long and everyone else always has better friends they hang out with. The longest friendship I ever had with someone was the nerd who taught me how to play Dungeons and Dragons and gave me a few of his books, and then he just stopped hanging out with me for some reason, probably because I'm a magnet for bullies and trouble of the unexplainable/magical kind."

'_Then you'd better make sure you're an irreplaceable friend, I'm sure there's a guy there who would like you.'_

Alexia stared at Alice in shock. "Me get a boyfriend? What the hell was in those carrots you were eating earlier?"

'_I'm serious. You need someone who truly cares about you and who will be there for you, a boyfriend is your best bet."_

"I have a whole list of reasons not to get a boyfriend."

'_Try me. If you really found the right person why wouldn't you ask them out? Besides the fact that you're a little young for this sort of thing.'_

"Okay then," said Alexia. "Number one: I can't get close to anyone at school or have a conversation with them because half of the time I'm getting influenced by everyone else in the room or halfway and it takes all of my strength these days not to say anything. Number two: Like I said earlier, they'd always be able to have better girls than me. Nu-"

'_Well if you think like that you're never going to get anywhere. Is this why you never run for class president? There's always someone better? You should at least try.'_

"Okay then, I'd try except for the third and biggest reason. I'm a witch, there is no way Voldemort is going to let me even suggest that I get close to a muggle. A pureblood witch and a muggle, that story is too familiar for him to let me get close to anyone. I might be able to hide it from him for awhile but he'll find out eventually through the Occlumency lessons."

'_Just make sure he knows you don't want to do anything sexual when you guys are older."_

Alexia laughed and said, "As if that would ever work. Besides, even if he didn't mind Voldemort still would. I'd have to make sure he was totally uninterested…" Comprehension dawned on Alexia's face as she said, "I know a few gays guys at my school, maybe I can see if one of them wouldn't mind having me as a girlfriend, it'd help him hide his orientation and we'd both have someone who cared about the other. What do you think?"

'_I think you're nucking futs, but there's a very slight chance it could happen.'_

"Well then, I know what I'm doing when I head back to school after break is over…" said Alexia as she started to fall asleep.

In the morning Alexia woke up wondering why she was sleeping in the dungeon and remembered the night before. She woke up Alice and put away the sleeping bag, which was really just telling it to fold itself up.

Alexia walked upstairs to find that Voldemort and Quirrell hadn't made it off of the couch and had fallen asleep holding each other under a large blanket. It had really only been cuddling though, she could tell because only their shirts were on the floor beside them.

"Rise and shine!" she called out as she opened the curtains on the window to let the bright light come in. The morning was even brighter than usual because the ground had three inches of snow already with more falling.

"Uuuuuhhhh," moaned Voldemort. "_Nox! Nox! _Turn the light out."

"It's snowing out!" said Alexia. "It's so pretty! I'm going to make the coffee." Alexia practically danced into the kitchen still excited about the snow. She pulled out the coffee pot and made coffee the muggle way. Voldemort had a small cauldron in the kitchen he typically made coffee with; he always tried to use a cauldron for something, which was part of the reason why he made soup so often.

Quirrell yawned and sat up rubbing his eyes. "Wow, it is really pretty out," he commented as he looked out the window.

"Yeah, it'll be great for flying today," said Voldemort as he sat up too. "Hey Alexia, you're going to get to learn how to fly on a broom today! The snow on the ground will cushion you when you fall."

"Great way to inspire confidence Voldemort," said Quirrell as he got off the couch and folded up the blanket. Voldemort got up after him and picked up the shirts off of the floor, heaven forbid any laundry should be lying around once he got up. Quirrell gave Voldemort a quick hug and went over to the fireplace to get a fire going while Voldemort straightened up the living room and then went upstairs to take care of the laundry and to change.

Alice was pawing the fridge door in the approximate location of the bag of carrots. Alexia laughed and walked over and got the bag of carrots out, "Sorry Alice, I forgot it's too cold for you to go out."

'_It's fine; at least I'll still get to watch you learn how to fly later, but from in here next to the warm fire.'_

"Okay, I'll be thinking of you," said Alexia with a smile as she got out enough carrots for Alice's breakfast.

Voldemort walked into the living room and threw a shirt at Quirrell as he finished with the fire, who rolled his eyes and said, "How did I know you'd pick black? You're boring when it comes to outfit designing."

Voldemort, who was wearing a black T-shirt and pants said, "I didn't spend seven years with a fashion sensitive scarf. Just be glad that I don't do what you do and go through your dresser putting outfits together based on the season we're in." Alexia heard this from the kitchen and cracked up while Quirrell put his shirt on.

"You got a point," admitted Quirrell. "I still have nightmares about what would've happened if Scarfy knew that I'd worn that turban all of last year. The only thing going for it is that it wasn't purple."

'_I bet Voldemort would've thrown a fit had that turban been purple.' _Alice thought.

Alexia laughed and said, "Probably."

Quirrell walked into the kitchen with a confused look and said, "Probably what?"

"Oh, I was just talking to Alice," replied Alexia as she poured orange juice.

Quirrell smiled, obviously thinking Alexia was one of those people who talked to their pets even though the animal couldn't understand them and said, "Oh, that's nice." While Voldemort just raised his eyebrows.

'_I think Voldemort's on to us.'_

"Yeah maybe," said Alexia as she picked Alice up and stroked her thick fur. Now Quirrell was looking at Alexia like she was going a little crazy but just shrugged it off.

"Hey Quirrell!" Voldemort called out from the living room.

"What is it, Voldemort?" asked Quirrell as he set the table.

"Remember what you said about not minding if the kids from Hogwarts came back?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm pretty sure they'll be back soon," said Voldemort as he came into the dining room carrying Harry's guitar. "Harry left it here last night because he wasn't holding it when he touched the Portkey. I'm going to put it in our bedroom where it'll be safe, if there's one scratch on it when he comes back for it there'll be hell to pay."

After breakfast Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia all bundled up and headed outside, with six inches of snow now on the ground. Alice stood on the windowsill watching them and thoroughly creeping Voldemort out, but he didn't want to say anything about it.

There were two brooms by the outside door, and Voldemort and Quirrell each grabbed one for a demonstration.

"I'll go first," said Voldemort as they walked to a large grassy part of the yard. He mounted the broom and kicked off, but instead of going up he did a weird flip and fell face-first into the snow from seven feet in the air.

"Good thing we have all of this snow, to cushion you when you fell," said Quirrell with a smirk as he helped Voldemort up.

"Oh shut up," growled Voldemort. "My magic has been pretty temperamental since I made myself this most recent body, getting killed twice gets to you after awhile. YOU can teacher her how to fly the sissy way and I'll watch."

"So using brooms is sissy now, huh?" asked Quirrell as Voldemort gave his broom to Alexia. Quirrell showed Alexia the correct way to mount a broom and how to control one and did a couple of laps around the yard as a demonstration.

When Quirrell landed in front of her he asked, "So, what did you learn or notice?"

"Well, I noticed how you turned left, and then left… again, and uh, how you landed and took off," replied Alexia feeling lame.

"Let's see you try it then," said Voldemort. Alexia nodded and mounted and then kicked off.

Flying on a broom was easier and harder than flying unsupported. On a broom she had to concentrate to steer while when flying by herself the goal was not to concentrate. The only way to throw yourself against the ground and miss is to not think about flying. Most people fly when they see a distraction that takes their mind off of falling, like seeing a bag they left at an airport years ago.

Alexia did a few laps around the yard and diving and other flying maneuvers surveying the yard before she landed in front of Quirrell, who looked impressed. Quirrell started to give her some general information about flying when Voldemort walked over and started talking to Alexia about flying without a broom.

Quirrell was left standing with no audience while Voldemort and Alexia turned away from him and started talking. Taking advantage of all the snow Quirrell packed a snowball together and threw it at Voldemort. "PAY ATTENTION!" he shouted after Voldemort got hit with the snowball and was feeling his head. When Quirrell turned and started talking about the best place to grip a broom he got hit in the back with two snowballs, and what had originally been a flying lesson turned into a full blown snowball fight in the backyard.

They went inside only when all of them were soaking wet and Voldemort had started sneezing uncontrollably. "Take your shoes off outside," said Voldemort as he kicked his boots off and ran upstairs to get some Nasonex. Quirrell rolled his eyes but left his wet shoes outside anyway. Alexia took her boots off and came inside to find Alice curled by the fireplace.

"Hey Alice," said Alexia as she got near her rabbit. "Want a hug?" she asked with a smirk.

'_No way! You're soaking wet, I'm nice and warm!' _Alice hopped away from Alexia as she took off her coat and gloves.

"Okay, okay," said Alexia as she sat down by the fire and warmed her hands.

Quirrell came downstairs after he'd changed and sat down by Alexia. "That was fun; did you enjoy your ten minutes of flying?"

"Yeah, it was awesome," replied Alexia.

Alice noticed that Quirrell was completely dry and hopped into his lap.

"That's not fair!" said Alexia as Alice snuggled up against Quirrell.

Quirrell looked surprised at having Alice come willingly to him and asked, "What's not fair?"

"You're completely dry so she went to you," replied Alexia as she got up. "I'm going to go and change." Alexia walked past Voldemort as he headed into the kitchen.

"Would you like any hot chocolate?" Voldemort asked as he set up his cauldron in the kitchen.

"Yes please, thank you," replied Alexia as she headed upstairs shivering.

Voldemort brought out three mugs of cocoa as Alexia came downstairs and gave Alexia and Quirrell each a mug and sat down on Quirrell's other side. Alexia reached over and pet Alice, who wouldn't budge because Quirrell was the warmest person.

"Wow, Alice really likes you," said Alexia as she gave up trying to get Alice to come over to her.

Quirrell was gently stroking Alice's fur and said with a smile, "Yeah, she does. She's really cute too."

"You know, whenever you two are looking at that bunny I keep expecting a heart emoticon to appear over your heads," commented Voldemort making Alexia and Quirrell laugh.

"Hey Alexia," said Voldemort "Have you ever seen 17 Again? We have the DVD."

"No, I haven't," replied Alexia.

"Me neither," said Quirrell.

"Really?" asked Voldemort. "Quirrell, I know what we're gonna do today."

**This is one of the more weirder chapters in this, I hope you guys like it though. It feels really weird to be writing this because in the fic it's still a few days before Christmas lol**

**If there are any mistakes please don't be afraid to tell me I've been writing almost all day and I'm pretty tired. **

**Yes, Alexia's rabbit can communicate with her telepathically **


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, for the life of me I can't get the links at the bottom to work/copy no matter what I do, go to my page/profile to see them.

DISCLAIMER STUFFS! I DO NOT OWN THE SONG IN HERE, IT WAS WRITTEN BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL, THERE'S A LINK AT THE VERY BOTTOM. I had to cut it down a bit because some of the lyrics would make no sense for Quirrell to sing. I don't own any Starkid things, Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, any OCs are mine, blah blah blah this is bullshit.

Ten minutes later Voldemort and Quirrell were curled up on the couch sharing a bowl of popcorn and Alexia was on the other end of the couch holding her own popcorn, Alice, and Alice's small bowl of veggies. For the next hour and a half they watched the movie with much awwwing and laughing and in Alexia's case enduring smart-ass comments from Alice that only she could hear but tried very hard not to respond to, Voldemort and Quirrell thought she was slowly losing her mind every time she talked out loud to Alice.

"So, what did you guys think?" asked Voldemort once the movie ended.

"That was a really sweet movie," said Quirrell "and funny too."

"Next time I ever think I'm turning into a nerd I'll just think of Ned," said Alexia as she finished off her bowl of popcorn. "Who knew that the basketball guy could be so sweet and funny?"

When he was able to recover his use of speech Voldemort said, "Basketball guy? Zac Efron is so sweet, and cute, and athletic, and funny and you just say THE BASKETBALL GUY?"

'_Someone's got a crush,' _thought Alice as she chomped on a piece of lettuce, one advantage of talking with her mind is that it's not rude to talk with food in her mouth.

"Well, Zefron might be all of those things but he's not nearly as handsome or romantic as you are," said Quirrell as he snuggled up closer to Voldemort.

If any shadow of a doubt had ever thought about crossing Voldemort's mind about if Quirrell truly loved him or not it vanished and never came back.

"Maybe we'll watch She's All That next time we watch a movie, but I think now would be a great time for an interesting Occlumency lesson," said Voldemort knowing that Alexia would have a hard time keeping her mind clear right after watching a movie.

Occlumency lessons used to be Voldemort and Alexia going somewhere quiet (like the dungeon) and having a staring contest while Voldemort read Alexia's mind and she tried to block him. Alexia always failed at shutting Voldemort out completely but she was getting stronger, at school she was having less of the explosions and melt-downs. School was still a living hell and she dreaded going back, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Lately the Occlumency lessons had been more difficult. Instead of just sitting there and having a staring contest, Voldemort would use Legilimency against Alexia while they were actually doing something, like playing poker (which usually turned into a staring contest anyway). Voldemort got out the poker chips and cards as Alexia sat down at the table trying to clear her mind.

Quirrell walked into the kitchen carrying _Sense and Sensibility _and put the tea kettle on. "Will it bother you guys if I'm out in the living room?"

"Not at all," replied Voldemort "You shouldn't interfere very much as far as emotions go. Oh, while you're here, would you please take Alice? She's still on Alexia's lap."Quirrell went over to Alexia and took Alice who gladly hopped into his arms; she loved all of the attention she was getting. Quirrell made his tea and went out to the living room to read his book by the fire.

Meanwhile Voldemort had dealt two cards to himself and Alexia and ten of each color of their chips, black, blue, green, red, and white to play Texas Hold'em. Voldemort kept prodding Alexia's mind and she blocked out a little bit, just the major emotions while keeping her mind mostly blank. The mostly was due to the fact that Alexia was the kind of person to have music going through her head without even realizing it, leading to…

"Who's Lady Gaga?" asked Voldemort causing Alexia and Quirrell to both crack up "You have a song called Pokerface stuck in your head by her."

Quirrell came out still holding his book and Alice and said, "Lady Gaga is a very popular muggle music artist. It's amazing the things I learn while teaching at a muggle middle school."

Alexia stared at Voldemort and said, "You honestly don't know who Lady Gaga is? What rock have you been living under?"

"Wizard rock."

Quirrell turned towards Alexia and asked, "What other bands do you listen to?"

"The usual mainstream Beatles, Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, uh, Weird Al, ooh Little White Lie-"

"I love Little White Lie!" said Quirrell. "Too bad that they broke up after the lead singer, Sami, threw the backup vocalist Tanya off of a water tower."

"Someone got thrown off of a water tower?" asked Voldemort. "I need to look up this band." He sighed and said, "Continuing this lesson is hopeless after that interruption, we may as well call it a night."

Quirrell nodded and yawned as he said, "I'm going up to bed right now, I feel like I'm about to pass out." He handed Alice to Alexia and walked upstairs. Voldemort cleaned up the cards, chips, and anything else that didn't really need cleaned but only earned a 9.8 on the perfectionist scale of 1 to 10 while Alexia went to bed too.

When Voldemort came up to the bedroom Quirrell was already asleep. He climbed in carefully to make sure he didn't wake Quirrell up, he was always stressed and exhausted during the school year and needed all the rest he could get. It was nice to see him peacefully asleep instead of having a nightmare, or not being able to sleep due to stress/back pains.

But of course Voldemort was woken up AGAIN at 2 AM by Quirrell, but in the weirdest way yet. The first thing Voldemort noticed was that he was lying on his back, which he hadn't done in over a year. The other weird thing was that Quirrell was lying down in such a way that his head was resting on Voldemort's chest and he was holding one of Voldemort's wrists. Assuming that Quirrell must've woken up earlier and had fallen asleep in what was sort of a sweet position Voldemort closed his eyes and was about to fall back sleep when he felt Quirrell's other hand against the side of his neck feeling for something.

"Can I help you?" asked Voldemort feeling a little creeped out.

Quirrell jumped slightly at hearing Voldemort speak but replied in a voice that suggested he had been crying, "Sorry, I just had a nightmare." Voldemort turned on the lamp by the bed and helped Quirrell up into a sitting position. Quirrell had in fact been crying, and Voldemort realized that Quirrell had been making sure he had a pulse.

Vowing to never let Quirrell go to bed before he did, Voldemort got out the bag of chocolate and held Quirrell while he ate some M&M's.

Right when Quirrell was about to ask whether they should check on Alexia, Alexia walked into their room holding Alice and looking severely depressed. "I'm super sad," she announced as she climbed onto their bed and gave Quirrell a hug.

"Sorry guys," Quirrell mumbled as Alexia started eating chocolate and Voldemort started to gently rub Quirrell's back.

"It's okay," soothed Voldemort. "Cheer up, it's the eve of Christmas Eve, we'll be decorating later." Quirrell nodded and his eyes fell on Harry's black guitar on the corner.

"Hey, um, is it okay if I sing something? It'll make me feel better." Voldemort looked surprised at Quirrell wanting to sing but nodded anyway as Quirrell got up and grabbed the guitar.

Quirrell sat on the bed and played some chords/notes and muttered, "Wow, it must magically always be in tune." Looking up now talking to Alexia and Voldemort he said, "So, I uh, used to play guitar, and while I was in Azkaban I started writing a song about you, Voldemort." Quirrell started blushing and stammered on, "I haven't played in awhile and the song isn't done, and uh, I don't even know if you'll like it-"

"Just play it already," said Voldemort as he playfully ruffled Quirrell's hair.

"I'm sure we'll love it," said Alexia. "Alice thinks so too."

"Well, okay," said Quirrell with a smile. "Here it is." He strummed a few chords and sang,

"_I've traveled the world from here to Albania, I've __tussled with vampires, and I've seen how they hate. Now I'm alone and I just want to explain to you, I miss your face on the back of my head._

"_It's not about ruling the world anymore, love has blossomed, and it's opened my eyes. Soon it will just be the two of us forever, two best friends, one magic world of fun._

"_I want you to know, Voldemort I'm yours forever, through thick and thin, I'll stand by your side._

"_This past year was the greatest term ever, you taught me how to live a little, and I taught you how to be nice. The way things turned out our alliance was severed, but I swear to you now, I'll win you back someday._

"_I want you to know, Voldemort I'm yours forever, through thick and thin I'll stand by your side, I'm there by your side."_

Quirrell finished and said nervously, "I know it's not done, there was more I wanted to add and it could've been better at-"

"Quirrell, that was probably the nicest thing anyone's ever made for me," said Voldemort who looked extremely touched. "Come here," he said softly. Quirrell set the guitar down and curled up on Voldemort's lap. Holding Quirrell close to him Voldemort murmured, "Quirrell, I'm so sorry about you going to Azkaban, I'm never leaving you again. I love you so much."

Quirrell sniffled and said, "I love you too. Merry Christmas Voldemort, Alexia, and Alice. Come on guys, group hug." Alexia crawled over to be part of the hug and could feel Voldemort trying very hard not to roll his eyes. Alice hopped into Voldemort's lap knowing that he couldn't push her away this time making him grimace.

When they all broke apart Voldemort said, "It's 2:30 AM and we all have about five hours of sleep, let's decorate!"

Alice hopped away into Alexia's room saying something about needing sleep while Alexia, Voldemort, and Quirrell magically decorated the house and garden. Quirrell refused to cut down a tree from outside to use as an indoor Christmas tree, so the majority of decorating took place outside with enchanted tinsel, ornaments, lights, and snow/ice where it was needed. Quirrell was doing most of the conjuring of anything they needed while Voldemort and Alexia flew around the garden reaching places that Quirrell couldn't.

The interior of the house had non-melting snow/ice and a few plants, the largest being a poinsettia on the coffee table in the living room. Balls of colored light floated around the house and could be vanished in an instant (along with the icicles) should any muggles show up.

Voldemort (who had been banned from conjuring icicles after one went up into the ceiling and shattered a light fixture raining glass down on everyone) was making hot chocolate in the kitchen while Alexia and Quirrell put some last touches on the living room. He brought the drinks out and curled up with Quirrell in their favorite chair by the fire.

Alexia had gotten Alice from her room and was feeding her breakfast while she drank hot chocolate. "I never knew decorating could be so fun," she said. "Whenever I had to do it at my uncle's house it was just so that we blended in with the neighbors."

"I've always loved decorating," said Quirrell. "And it certainly was… interesting," he added with a glance at Voldemort.

"I said I was sorry about the exploding light fixture and all of that snow in your face. That was honestly an accident."

"Oh well, it wasn't all bad," said Quirrell looking at the fireplace. "That icicle in the middle of the fire still amuses me." There was an icicle spike dead center in the fireplace throwing the firelight around in unusual ways. He turned to Alexia and said, "Good work, he hasn't noticed it yet."

"Noticed what?" asked Voldemort. Quirrell smirked at him and he had a hunch that he knew what it was. Voldemort looked at the ceiling right above him and said, "I should've known," As Quirrell gave him a gentle kiss under the mistletoe and put his head on Voldemort's shoulder watching the fire.

The next two days were some of the best Alexia had ever had, it was nice just to relax and be around people she liked. Christmas at her uncle's had always been stressful, and she usually tried so spend as much time flying around outside as possible. The only flying she did here was to help with decorating or just for fun around the house.

Christmas morning came with even more snow outside and a small pile of gifts under the coffee table. Voldemort and Quirrell were already up when Alexia walked out; a couple owls had just flown in through the window carrying a large package between them. Quirrell signed for it and carried it out to the living room. "Merry Christmas Alexia!" he called out as he beckoned her into the living room. "Come on, the order from Honeydukes just arrived!"

"Honeydukes is a wizarding sweet shop," said Voldemort knowing Alexia had no idea what Honeydukes was. "They have a branch in Hogsmeade with some of the finest enchanted food around. Quirrell picked out some chocolate for everyone."

"More than just chocolate," said Quirrell as he opened the package with Alexia and Voldemort gathered around him. "There's peppermint toads that actually hop in your stomach, licorice wands, cauldron cakes, cockroach cluster to put into trail mix when Harry shows up haha, regular chocolate, fizzing whizbees, toffee, every flavor beans, sugar quills, and a few other things." Alexia's eyes were wide with amazement as Quirrell divided the sweets into three piles, she'd never seen wizarding candy before; her uncle had practically no connections to the wizarding world besides a few people he invited over.

"Oh, I got you something special Voldemort," said Quirrell as he pulled out the last bag in the box. "Gummy snakes!"

Voldemort took the wriggling bag of snakes and to Alexia's surprise opened it and hissed at the snakes inside. After a few seconds he said, "Well, they don't talk back to me so I should have no problem eating them. Thanks Quirrell."

Quirrell beamed at Voldemort and said, "Let's open the rest of these," gesturing at the presents under the poinsettia. Voldemort and Alexia sat down and Quirrell handed out gifts. "Hey Alexia, open yours first."

Alexia nodded and tore apart the wrapping paper; she could tell it was probably clothes by how squishy it was. When the paper was gone she gasped, she was looking at a deep purple, floor length coat with a black fur lining. Alexia stood up and put it on, it was the warmest coat she'd ever had, her old jacket was starting to fall apart and even when it was new it barely kept her warm in the fall. This coat came down to right above her ankles and would always be warm, it was also the most fashionable thing she owned (not that that was saying much), which meant Quirrell must've picked it out. "Wow, thank you so much!" she said as she felt the thick lining.

"You're welcome," replied Quirrell. "You've needed a new coat for awhile, we really should've gotten you one once we took you in, but it's better late than never. That lining comes out too in case it's not cold enough out for the full coat."

"You can wear it in the wizarding world too," added Voldemort. "Most wizards and witches wear long coats or cloaks, so you'll fit right in."

"It's every person's nightmare to get clothes on Christmas or on a birthday, I hope you don't mind that you got a coat," said Quirrell.

"Not at all, I love it!" said Alexia as she took it off and folded it into a neat pile.

"I think it's just socks and underwear that everyone hates getting," said Voldemort. "I was always so disappointed to get wizard shorts every Christmas instead of- what?"

Alexia had chosen an unfortunate time to take a sip of hot chocolate and nearly did a spit take when Voldemort had said 'wizard shorts'. "Wizard shorts!" she choked as she fell over onto the couch laughing.

"Oh yeah, muggles call them 'boxers'," said Quirrell. "When you're recovered open your other gift."

Alexia sat up and nodded and opened up a medium sized box to find an art kit. "Oooh, thank you!"

"Your art is really good, I figured you might like some better materials," said Quirrell. "That Chinese Fireball you drew last week was amazing for drawing from a picture in a book."

Alexia blushed as Voldemort tore open his gift, which turned out to be a British cookbook. "In case you want to try something new," said Quirrell.

"Thanks," replied Voldemort as he flipped through the book. "Is there anything in here that isn't swimming in gravy?"

"I dunno," said Quirrell as he opened the final two things under the poinsettia. "Aqua globes! Thank you, now I only have to worry about taking care of the outdoor plants."

"And?" prompted Voldemort.

"I'm trying!" said Quirrell as he tore open the last present that had been wrapped with too much tape. "Well I wonder who wrapped this, ugh! Hey, romance novels that I haven't read yet, thanks Voldemort."

"You're welcome. You have no idea how long it took me to go through your entire collection making sure you didn't have those."

Right as Quirrell opened his mouth to say something an owl crashed into the living room window and whatever Quirrell was going to say turned into a high pitched squeak. The owl had fallen over into a bush and came up to tap timidly on the window. Voldemort walked over and opened the window, still smiling at Quirrell sounding like a mouse. He took the envelope the owl had and sent it off; he walked over to Quirrell and said, "Here, it's a card from Scarfy and Sorty."

"Aww, how sweet of them," said Quirrell as he took the card and opened it, the card was a picture of Scarfy and Sorty together with a note 'Best Wishes, see you soon!'. "Looks like Scarfy and Sorty are going to be coming here with Harry soon, I'd guess in the next week or so before school starts up again."

"Yeah, school," said Alexia looking like she was about to throw up.

"I know you hate it, but it won't be so bad once you start again," said Quirrell.

"Hey Alexia, would it help you to have a calming draught in a water bottle or something at school?" asked Voldemort. "I can show you how to make one, it's an O.W.L. or fifth year potion, but if you're supervised while making it I don't see why you couldn't try."

"Sounds good," replied Alexia.

"And I'll be up here reading my romance novels putting off the hundred and ten essays I have to grade," said Quirrell as he started filling up the aqua globes and placing them in plants around the house. The outdoor plants needed attention too but due to the nature of some of the magical plants and the weather aqua globes would be a bad thing to out in the garden.

For all three of them, it was the best Christmas yet with more to come.

**It's taken longer than I wanted for this to get up, sorry guys. I've been really sick for the last week, and while I'm mostly better I'm still having horrible headaches. I know some part of this are reeeeeeaaaaalyyyy corny, my brain has been affected by the Glee/Phineas and Ferb Christmas specials.**

**I know not many Starkids have heard of/watched Little White Lie, so I lost a bunch of people on the LWL reference in here. Little White Lie was a project that was made before Starkid was formed/AVPM was made. It only had one season, and they don't plan on finishing it due to other projects they want to work on. Some of the actors have scattered too, I'm pretty sure the actress for Sami lives up in Canada.**

**The thing about Sami throwing Tanya off of a water tower came from a meet and greet session where it came out what season two would've been.**

**There's now a bunch of links on my page in bold that used to be here but wouldn't work.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's taken me so long to get this up, part of it was that fanfiction wasn't letting me upload it for about a week. I did write about 6 pages of this in one day because I was rushed to get it up, but then it wouldn't let me upload.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OCs/story. This chapter is a bit more PG-13 than the others so far but I'm not putting a warning on because I don't think anything's that bad.

"A Calming Draught or Draught of Peace is a potion with will instantly calm down the drinker," said Voldemort as he started writing on the blackboard in the dungeon while Alexia started taking notes. "The active ingredient is syrup from a hellebore, an herb that is poisonous but can be used medically in small amounts." Voldemort went on for awhile about the actual complicated making of the potion with Alexia still taking notes.

When he was done lecturing and Alexia had four pages of notes Voldemort said, "Now we'll actually make the potion, I'll make one and then you can try after that. Go get the ingredients."

Alexia walked to the shelves and started getting out the many components of the calming draught. She tried to ignore some of the nastier things on the shelves until something caught her eye.

"You guys have armadillo bile? That's gross, what do you use it in?"

"A wit sharpening potion, we don't make it very often if at all bit it's good to have the bile on hand."

"You realize that to have standard quality armadillo bile there's some wizard farmer out there who raises armadillos just to kill them for their bile."

Voldemort grimaced and looked like he wished he'd never heard that sentence. "I'm just going to make the calming draught so I can drink some before I puke into the cauldron." He took the ingredients Alexia had brought him and made the potion with Alexia watching and taking even more notes.

"Now it's your turn to try," said Voldemort as he finished his potion and put it into a vial.

"Uh, are you sure you want me to try that? It's pretty complicated," said Alexia looking nervously at the instructions.

"It's fine," replied Voldemort as he set his bottle of calming draught next to the now empty cauldron. "You probably won't get it the first time or even the first couple of times but there's no harm in trying."

Ten minutes later Alexia's potion had exploded leaving Voldemort and Alexia covered with burns and cuts on their faces. Surprisingly, neither of them were very upset about it.

"Oh well," said Voldemort with a sigh as he looked into a mirror. "We still have the one I made."

"No, we don't," replied Alexia as she yawned. "You set it right next to my cauldron, when the potion exploded it broke the glass of your potion bottle and vaporized it."

"No wonder why we're so calm," said Voldemort. "Let's go upstairs and say hi to Quirrell, he'll need to put the healing stuff on us, if I try I'll fall asleep."

Voldemort and Alexia walked upstairs to find Quirrell sitting in his chair reading with a cup of tea beside him. "Hey Quirrell," said Voldemort as he yawned again.

"Hi," replied Quirrell. He stuck a bookmark into his book, looked up and jumped. "Oh my gosh, what happened to you guys?" Quirrell rushed over as Voldemort started to explain.

"Alexia was making a calming draught and-"

"Your hair is a MESS," said Quirrell ignoring the burns and cuts and smoothing Voldemort's hair back. "I've never seen it like this, no wonder why you don't do much with it."

"Yes, thank you Quirrell for noticing that my hair is a wreck," said Voldemort in a flat tone of voice, it was as much emotion as he could show at the moment; the calming potion's effect lasted awhile.

"Well if you wanted to heal your burns and cuts the healing potion is down- OH MY GOD, ALEXIA WHAT HAPPENED?"

Quirrell was staring at Alexia, not at her face which had numerous burns and scratches, but at her left arm where her sleeve was rolled up for potion making. Alexia looked down at her arm and calmly said, "Oh, those happened before I moved here, but I'm over it now. I typically wear long sleeves because of that though, people freak out if they see it."

There were scars and cuts running down the length of Alexia's inner arm as well as a few deep cuts up by her wrist. "I used to be pretty suicidal," she said while still remaining perfectly calm. "But I'm over it, living here with you guys has helped me a lot."

"Your uncle was that bad?" asked Quirrell as he took her arm and stared at the scars. "I'm so sorry, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was too scared," replied Alexia as she twitched from feeling Quirrell's emotions, even the calming draught couldn't shield her completely. "Life didn't really seem worth it back then, but I didn't know what would happen to me if I ran away or reported him. I kept trying to go all the way with suicide but I never could. The worst it got was the night I had the knife and cut up my wrist, I ended up in the emergency room I lost so much blood. That's when my uncle told me that next time I tried it I should do him a favor and do it the right way going down my arm along the veins."

Some of the strongest emotions Alexia had ever felted pulsed through her when she finished talking, and she knew her assumption that Voldemort was the more protective one was dead wrong. Quirrell had the look of 'You hurt my kid, I rip your throat out' in his eyes. Alexia knew Quirrell wouldn't hurt her but his emotion levels were getting to be alarmingly high; she pulled her arm away without him even noticing.

"That bastard," Quirrell hissed. "I WANT TO DRUG AND KILL HIM!" Quirrell started to run to the front door but Voldemort was awake enough to catch him around the waist.

"Woah Quirrell, easy, easy, it's okay. Calm down."

"I'M IN A RAGE!" shouted Quirrell. "THIS IS THE MADDEST I'VE EVER BEEN!"

"Quirrell, it's okay," soothed Voldemort. "What is one thing I could get you that would make you calm down?"

Quirrell closed his eyes and thought for as moment, still shaking with anger. "I got it!" he said as he opened his eyes "I want a voodoo doll."

Marveling at what a bad influence he was on Quirrell Voldemort said, "Uh, that's very evil of you Quirrell, but how about we go downstairs so you can heal these annoying burns."

Quirrell opened his mouth to respond and Alexia's scars caught his eye, and instead of another angry outburst he broke out of Voldemort's hold, gave Alexia a tight hug and burst into tears on her shoulder.

"ACK. OW. OW. EMOTIONS!" gasped Alexia. The calming draught effect was starting to fade as well as her shield.

Quirrell let go of her sniffled, "Sorry, I forgot. I feel horrible now."

Voldemort gave Quirrell a hug and said, "It's okay, we all lose it every once and awhile."

"Yeah," said Alexia. "I'm not about to give you a lecture about being perfectly composed all the time." Alexia sighed and continued, "And as far as my uncle goes, well, he's pretty bad but he is my uncle, I guess I should try and get along with him."

"No," interrupted Quirrell "He's crazy and needs to go down."

"Let's go down to the dungeon," said Voldemort wanting to get Quirrell to relax. "As I was trying to say earlier Alexia's calming draught exploded and vaporize mine, so if you go down there and take a deep breath you'll be instantly calmed."

"Oh, and you wanted my help with the healing elixir because you were falling asleep earlier?"

"Yes," replied Voldemort as he took Quirrell's arm and guided him downstairs (Quirrell was shaking from so much stress in a short time).

Once Quirrell walked through the door he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Whoa," he said "Thanks, I feel a lot better now." Voldemort and Alexia started yawning again while Quirrell stared off into space.

"See?" said Voldemort with a yawn. "Everything's fine, it's all gravy."

"I am never buying you another British cookbook. The gravy's getting to you."

New Years Eve came with Voldemort making a huge amount of calming draught in preparation for the school year and Quirrell grading/critiquing essays at the dining room table.

Voldemort came up from the dungeon to take a break and saw Quirrell with the pile of essays at the table. "I still think you should just give them all B-'s and be done with it."

"How about C-'s?" asked Quirrell. "Some of these are pretty horrible. I have eighth graders –third years to you- who can't write a five paragraph essay. Now when I go back I have to teach my classes how to write essays." Quirrell sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I've been critiquing them all morning since I had the extra time and I'm regretting it, I get the feeling no one rereads their pathetic excuse of an essay when they're done."

"I see what you mean," said Voldemort as he read over Quirrell's shoulder. "Grammar just goes out the window. 'Zeus chut down litning bult to urth from skie.' No wonder why the essays you've graded have so much red ink on them." Being the color coded person he was Quirrell had all of the good comments on the essays written in green and all of the bad ones written in red. With a few exceptions the essays were covered in red ink with a little bit of green here and there.

Quirrell nodded and sighed, "Reading these essays is like deciphering code."

Alexia had been standing behind Voldemort and Quirrell and spoke up asking "Were any of my essays this bad?"

Quirrell turned towards Alexia and replied, "No, yours were pretty good. You write better than the majority of my eighth graders, even the good ones."

"Thanks," said Alexia with a smile. "Would you like some tea?"

Quirrell was about to respond when the familiar sounds of a group of apparating Hogwarts students came from outside, turning the pitch of his voice up two octaves from being startled.

Alexia and Voldemort laughed at Quirrell until Alexia turned around and shrieked, "Draco! How did you get in here?"

"Portkey cookie," replied Draco as he took a bite of the stale biscuit. "I saved mine in a bag instead of eating it, like Weasly did."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked in with Ron wearing Scarfy and Sorty, obviously not happy about it. Once they walked in Ron practically ran over to Quirrell and threw Scarfy and Sorty at him. "Please take them; I don't want to hear another word about how bad my mother's sweater looks on me."

"Maroon is a HORRIBLE color for him," said Scarfy. "And that blue headband in his orange hair doesn't help either."

"I don't care!" shouted Ron. "Ugh, that scarf drives me crazy." Ron turned to look at the living room and said, "Wow, good thing we didn't try to come here by Floo Powder, there's a huge icicle in the middle of the fireplace."

"Wow," murmured Hermione as she read an essay over Quirrell's shoulder. "Harry has written better essays than this."

"Hey everyone!" shouted Harry over the noise in the room. "Where's my guitar?"

"Here it is," said Voldemort as he came down the stairs holding Harry's guitar and carrying a case of Squirt. "And I got you some Squirt as an apology."

"Thank you," said Harry as he took his guitar, "I've been having phantom limb pain."

Harry started to open the Squirt box for a can of soda and Voldemort said, "No, please just take the whole thing with you; if you open it here it'll make a huge mess during apparation on your way back to Hogwarts."

"I know that everyone hates me but would someone please turn off some of these lights? I didn't come here to explore the toilet you know," whined a high pitched voice.

"Myrtle!" exclaimed Quirrell as he turned some of the brighter lights out with a flick of his wand, making the previously washed-out looking ghost pop out vividly. "I haven't seen you in years, how are you?"

Myrtle smiled and floated over to Quirrell, "I've been feeling awful lately but I'm feeling much better now that I'm in the same room as you."

Alexia made Quirrell's tea and brought it to him while Draco held Alice, "Thanks Alexia," said Quirrell when he took it from her and continued to talk to Scarfy, Myrtle and Sorty.

Draco was stroking Alice's fur with a smile and when Alexia came over to him he said, "Your rabbit is so cute, my girlfriend's patronuse is a rabbit-"

"WOULD EVERYBODY SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE?" howled Voldemort over the multiple conversations starting up again. "I'm feeling lazy tonight; does anyone besides Myrtle (who has a problem with everything) have a problem if I make chocolate and cheese fondue?" Earning a glare from Myrtle as she sat down in Quirrell's lap.

"Isn't the cheese fondue alcoholic?" asked Hermione.

"I could get drunk off of cheese?" asked Ron with wide eyes "Cool!"

"If you get drunk off of cheese fondue I'm buying you an 'I'm special' button. There's some white wine in it and you can taste it but there's not very much," replied Voldemort. "It's only for the flavor, none of you are going to get intoxicated or tipsy from it."

"Um, maybe there's something I don't know about the wizarding world, but I was under the impression serving alcohol to minors is illegal," said Alexia with a nervous look.

Quirrell waved his hand to dismiss the question, "Wizards are allowed to go down to Hogsmeade and drink when they're eleven, we're okay. And if a muggle shows up they won't remember anything about this."

"Besides, we're breaking out the butterbeer later, don't worry Alexia it also has a very low alcohol content," said Voldemort as Alexia looked worried again.

Voldemort walked into the kitchen and started mixing up the fondue and fixing the dipping foods (bread for the cheese and fruit for the chocolate).

Myrtle was curled up on Quirrell's lap and was ruffling his hair. Voldemort turned towards Myrtle and asked, "You know he's gay, right?"

"I know," she sighed as she continued to play with his hair, "He's my first/best friend, he doesn't mind, probably because he's gay. I've had better luck with him than with Harry."

Harry who was sitting across from Quirrell the table was quietly plucking his guitar shuddered and said, "I don't want to remember the last time I met Myrtle while I was taking a bath."

"Oh come on, she's not that bad," said Quirrell as he carefully put his arm around Myrtle. "She might be a little over the top sometimes-" Myrtle giggled "-but she's really sweet when you get to know her. Anyway, she prepared me for Voldemort, who's a gentle little kitten in comparison."

Voldemort came out carrying the chocolate ad cheese fondue pots and said with shock, "I'm gentle? You're calling what I did to you on August fifth gentle?" he put the fondue sets in the middle of the table and lit the candles beneath them.

"Oh, that's when it happened!" exclaimed Scarfy. "But you two got together back in June, what took you so long?"

Voldemort rolled his eyes and said with an exasperated look at Quirrell, "Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Quirrell.

Voldemort sighed and said, "You're such a hopeless romantic." As he swooped down and gave Quirrell a passionate kiss before Myrtle could get in his way.

Scarfy piped up "Well, I don't care how hopeless Quirrell might be I'm marking August fifth on the calendar when I Sorty and I get back."

A long awkward silence filled the room as Quirrell and Voldemort broke apart.

"Speaking of rocketships…" started Draco.

"The technology isn't available!" cut in Voldemort leaving Draco with a face of disappointment.

Conversations started back up again (this time Quirrell and Myrtle were talking about Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party of '91) and Draco leaned over and asked Alexia, "Do Voldemort and Quirrell act like this all the time?"

"No, it's mostly when you guys are around to make everyone feel awkward."

"Tell them it works," muttered Draco. "I wish Quirrell wasn't friends with the creepiest, uh, things possible at Hogwarts."

"I know Scarfy and Sorty would've found their way here even if you'd taken everyone with your Portkey but why didn't Myrtle stay there?" asked Alexia. "From what I've heard the castle ghosts have to stay inside the grounds unless the headmaster gives them permission to leave."

"McGonagall wasn't going to let her come until her, Scarfy, and Sorty all threatened to follow her around until she said yes. It wasn't until the night she woke up from a weird dream and found Scarfy sitting on her bed and Myrtle cuddled up to her that she snapped and told them to get the hell out and take their dear time getting back."

"Hey Alexia!" called Quirrell. "I've been talking with Scarfy and Sorty, and they want to sort you."

"Uh, sure," said Alexia as she stood up, and walked over, and sat by Quirrell with everyone else quietly watching.

Quirrell put Sorty on her first; he started to talk once he touched her head. "Hmmm, you're hardworking, not too brave, sort of cunning, and oh my goodness very smart and into books. RAVENCLAW!"

"You're in the same house as me!" said Quirrell with a smile.

"You're as smart as a Ravenclaw, but you're borderline Hufflepuff," said Voldemort.

"You say that like it's a disease," said Quirrell with a slightly hurt look as he draped Scarfy over Alexia' shoulders.

Scarfy sat on Alexia's shoulders for a few silent minutes making Harry ask, "What's wrong? He sorted me in an instant."

"Well," said Scarfy with a puzzled look "It really depends on her mood, so I'm just going to say bi-curious."

Hermione, Ron, Draco, Myrtle, and Harry all stared at Alexia like she was some kind of alien until she realized what was wrong. "Oh, you guys wouldn't know, I'm an empath. So what I'm attracted to depends on the people around me. Like one time at school I nearly made out with some guy's girlfriend because he was right behind me and she was in front of me. I would've too had he not shoved me away from her."

"Wow, that must be awkward, living with two gay guys," commented Ron as he ate a piece of bread with cheese.

"Actually, I'm bi," said Voldemort. "I was pretty into Bellatrix Lestrange."

"And quite often too," said Scarfy.

"SCARFY!" reprimanded Quirrell. "You're on a roll tonight, you pervert."

"Let's give Alexia, our newest Ravenclaw, a toast!" said Voldemort as he passed out butterbeer, hoping to deter Scarfy from saying anything else.

When everyone had a butterbeer Quirrell opened his mouth to congratulate Alexia when Ron interrupted, "Moaning Myrtle? What're you doing with a butterbeer? You're dead so you can't drink one anyway."

Myrtle slammed her unopened butterbeer down on the table and snapped, "Oh, Myrtle's dead so she shouldn't be able to do anything you can, let's all shut poor Myrtle out!" She started to cry and floated through Quirrell making him flinch.

"Myrtle," he called looking at her leaving, "You can come back, it's okay."

"No I won't come back! Maybe I will go explore your toilet," she sobbed gliding up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Quirrell got up to go and comfort her when Alexia said, "No, I'll go." Quirrell nodded and sat down glaring at Ron as Alexia walked up to the bathroom.

Once she walked into the dark bathroom Alexia heard pathetic sobbing noises coming from the bathtub. "Quirrell, is that you?" Myrtle asked with a sniffle. "Everyday people are always trying to put me down and on the one day I actually start to feel like a person that stupid, tactless ginger ruins it!" Myrtle started crying again as she said, "You're the only person who was ever nice to me, who liked me for who I am."

"Myrtle? It's me, Alexia," said Alexia as she fought back tears as well. Myrtle was almost pure emotion making her extremely hard to block. "I know how you feel because I get picked on all the time at school, at school everyone hates me, or doesn't trust me because of my horrible, uncontrollable mood swings." Now Alexia was crying as she continued, "Quirrell was the first one to reach out to me too, when everyone picked on me and teased me and I had no one who cared about me I nearly committed suicide it hurt so much."

Alexia realized that mentioning death in front of Myrtle was a bad idea but was surprised when Myrtle sat up in the bathtub and said with a sob, "People are so mean!"

"I KNOW, RIGHT?" howled Alexia.

Downstairs Hermione stopped Ron mid-sentence and said, "Shh! Do you hear something?"

Harry said, "It's Myrtle crying upstairs. I'd know her voice anywhere."

Quirrell stood up and said, "I'm going to go and bring them downstairs, Alexia will need some butterbeer to help her feel better."

When Quirrell walked into the bathroom he said softly, "Hello? You girls can come down, I've talked to Ron."

"Thank you," sobbed Alexia as her and Myrtle came out of the bathroom and downstairs.

Voldemort handed Alexia a bottle of butterbeer, "Drink this, you'll feel better." Quirrell sat down and held Myrtle as she closed her eyes and leaned against him.

Alexia nodded, opened it, and took a sip, followed by a large gulp. "Wow, this is really good! Why does my uncle drink that muggle cat piss?"

"I dunno," replied Voldemort, recovering from the fact that Alexia had the phrase 'cat piss' in her vocabulary. "Probably because when he gets really drunk off of the stronger stuff he doesn't even remember what it tastes like."

The moment Voldemort finished talking the clock in the living room struck midnight. Everyone yelled some version of "Happy new year" and if they had any, drank some butterbeer.

Quirrell gave Myrtle a kiss on the cheek and said, "Happy New Year, Myrtle."

"Thanks," she choked; her voice hadn't recovered from crying earlier. Voldemort came to Quirrell's other side and kissed him, while Ron kissed Hermione, Alexia took Alice from Draco and gave her a kiss on her forehead, Scarfy and Sorty kissed like they'd been waiting for it all night, and Harry and Draco looked at each other with an 'Ewww' expression.

Later on goodbyes were said and Scarfy took everyone who needed him to back to Hogwarts (Harry made sure he had his guitar and Squirt) . Myrtle was sad to leave but went anyway, saying she'd read some romance novels to remind herself of Quirrell.

'_What a night,' _thought Alice as Alexia fed her dinner. _'Draco is so sweet, he held me all throughout dinner.'_

"I'm glad you had a good time Alice," said Alexia. Voldemort raised his eyebrows but shrugged off her talking out loud to Alice.

Quirrell yawned and said, "And I'm STILL not done grading those essays."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Do I even need one anymore? you all should know by now that I don't own Starkid or Harry Potter. I DO own the new characters that are introduced (part of why I think this chapter reads a little slow).**

School started the next day on New Year's Day, forcing Quirrell to stay up most of the night grading essays and everyone to be exhausted the next morning. Voldemort was up before anyone else making French toast and coffee downstairs and trying to stay awake (even he was tired, it was hard for him to sleep without Quirrell next to him).

Quirrell stumbled down the stairs with his eyes half closed, ladled himself some coffee out of the cauldron and started to drink it without any cream or sugar hoping the bitter taste might wake him up. As he drank he stared at Voldemort making French toast and his tired brain noticed something was wrong.

"You know the griddles off, right?" Quirrell asked with his words a little slurred together from only having two hours of sleep.

"Yes, it makes a convenient place to put the toast when it's done," replied Voldemort as he raised his wand, levitated a piece of bread, dipped it in the egg mixture, made it hover over the egg mixture again, zapped it with a spell, and set it down perfectly cooked on the griddle.

Quirrell smiled, set down his coffee, and gave Voldemort a hug from behind around the waist and started giggling. "I love you," he said as he watched Voldemort cook another piece of toast.

"Thanks friend I love you too. What's so funny?"

"Your misuse of muggle technology is so cute."

Alexia came downstairs with an "I'm about to puke" look and got herself some coffee with cream and sugar. As she walked by Voldemort and Quirrell she raised her eyebrows at the still giggling Quirrell but decided she probably didn't want to know.

Alice hopped to her and thought at her, _'Would you please feed me? It's still too cold outside for me and I don't know what Voldemort would give me if he remembers to feed me at all today. I don't think I can talk to him, I've tried but he doesn't notice.'_

Alexia snapped awake at hearing Alice talk to her and turned to Voldemort saying with concern, "You're going to feed Alice today right? She can't go outside; do you know what she likes? I can't go to school if she won't be fed or will be forgotten!"

Shrugging the zombie Quirrell off of him and ordering Quirrell to set the table Voldemort walked over to Alexia, picked up Alice, and said, "Of course I'll take care of him-"

"HER!"

"Yeah, sorry, her," replied Voldemort as he tiredly blinked several times to clear his head. "I'll take good care of Alice; I know what to give her."

"And you won't neglect her? You'll talk to her, and pet her, and stuff? What other experience have you had with rabbits?"

"Okay, I'll spend time with her," said Voldemort with a sigh as he stroked her soft fur. "Uh, the last rabbit I was ever in contact with was Billy's rabbit way back at the orphanage, and I hung it from the rafters becau- OUCH!" he shrieked as Alice bit one of his hands hard enough to draw blood and Quirrell dropped a plate out of shock from hearing Voldemort shriek.

"Bye-bye plate," said Quirrell with a dazed look as he stared at the pieces on the kitchen floor.

Voldemort turned and looked at Quirrell like he needed to be taken to St. Mungo's and Alexia burst out laughing. He turned back to Alexia, gave Alice to her, went over the sink, and cleaned his hand while saying, "It was nothing against rabbits, that kid was being a jerk!" Voldemort made Alice a miniature salad for her breakfast and put it on the floor for her as Alexia set the table and Quirrell continued to stare at the floor.

Voldemort served the French toast and set the plates on the table as Alexia finished setting the table and pouring orange juice for people. Quirrell was still staring off into space as Voldemort put the carton of orange juice away. "Hey Quirrell, hello?" he said as he waved his hand in front of Quirrell's face.

"Wha?" asked Quirrell as he jumped and look at Voldemort.

Voldemort ruffled Quirrell's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Come on, wake up. How about you go and sit down so you can eat."

"I'm just gonna put something in my coffee first, black coffee is disgusting," replied Quirrell. Voldemort nodded and sat down with Alexia.

Quirrell walked over to where his coffee was, set it next to the fridge, pulled the orange juice out of the fridge and dumped some into his coffee. Voldemort and Alexia stared with shock and curiosity as Quirrell walked over to the table, unaware of what he'd done. Alexia opened her mouth to say something but Voldemort smirked and shushed her with Quirrell remaining completely oblivious.

Then Quirrell reached for the salt shaker and put a fair amount of it into his coffee as Voldemort and Alexia widened their eyes and started laughing with their mouths covered. Finally he grabbed a fork and stirred his coffee while yawning loudly. Quirrell stopped stirring, set the fork aside, took a huge gulp of his coffee, choked, and spat it back into the mug.

"Ewwww, this tastes like vitamin C! What did you do to it?" asked Quirrell as he coughed and Alexia cried with laughter.

Voldemort raised his eyebrows and replied, "What did I do to it? You're the one who put orange juice and salt in it!"

"I did?" asked Quirrell. "Well, whatever I did I'm awake now, that was horrible, and cold." He stuck his tongue out and hurriedly ate some French toast to get the taste out of his mouth.

"You're still not awake, there's no syrup on there," said Voldemort as Alexia passed Quirrell the bottle of maple syrup. Quirrell nodded and put some syrup on with his eyes half closed, he did some more awake though, most of the syrup actually landed on the toast.

As she ate Alexia started to remember that she would be heading to school in about fifteen minutes and started shaking. Voldemort noticed and said, "Oh, I nearly forgot, I put some calming draught in a water bottle for you to take to school today. I'll go get it." He walked downstairs and came back up holding a blue aluminum bottle and a clear water bottle. Voldemort set them both on the table in front of Alexia and said, "The blue one has the calming draught and the clear one actually has water, don't get the two mixed up. You'd probably pass out if you drank too much of the calming draught at once thinking it was just water, then we'd all be in trouble."

Quirrell looked at Voldemort and asked, "What do I get to go to school with?"

"Stand up," ordered Voldemort. Quirrell stood as Voldemort came over to him and gave him a long passionate kiss that lasted for almost 30 seconds. When they broke apart Quirrell looked cheerful and Voldemort was making a Mr. Yuck face.

"The orange juice-coffee-salt flavor wasn't all the way gone was it?" asked Quirrell as Voldemort grimaced and shook his head.

"Well, since you'll be gone all day that kiss will have to tide me over until you get home and have some mouthwash, I feel lonely without you here," replied Voldemort as he hugged Quirrell.

"You'll have Alice with you!" piped up Alexia as she cleared the table and dumped out Quirrell's coffee.

"But here's the thing I'm not kissing Alice."

"She can still keep you company," replied Alexia as she scooped Alice up from the floor and handed her to Voldemort who reluctantly took Alice, he'd rather be hugging Quirrell.

Seeing that Alexia still looked nervous about school, Quirrell gave her a hug and gently rubbed her back to calm her down. Alexia yawned and felt herself relax as her worries seemed to float away.

Quirrell let her go and said, "Your homework is done, Alice will be taken care of here, your Occlumency is getting better, and you have a calming draught in case you need it. Besides me forgetting how to get to school or getting into a car crash because my eyes won't focus what could possibly go wrong?" 

"OH MY GOD HERMAN SHUT UP!" Alexia screeched at her first period math teacher. She could feel everyone else's post-break annoyance and hadn't gotten to her calming draught in time. Alexia was standing up with her hands planted on the desk, panting as she looked out at the rest of the class staring at her and a couple people recording what was promising to be a good fight with their cell phones.

Herman the math teacher turned and glared at her from the front of the room as he finished drawing a right triangle on the board. "You haven't changed a bit! I thought that with your new 'parents' you might behave better, apparently they don't think you're worth treatment or medication."

"QUIRRELL AND JOE LOVE AND CARE ABOUT ME, THEY'RE TRYING OTHER THINGS BEFORE PUTTING ME ON PILLS!" Alexia shouted as she started shaking from anger and shock. She was already in a horrible mood and someone, especially an ignorant adult, insulting Voldemort and Quirrell would've made her blow up anyways.

"Of course they are," Herman said sarcastically. "I see no difference, probably because you've been hopeless since birth. How did your parents die again? Drunk in a car crash am I right?"

"MY PARENTS DIDN'T DRINK!" she screamed. Alcohol was a sensitive subject after spending time around her uncle and other drunks. She had no idea if her parents drunk or not but had always assumed they hadn't.

"And since they're gone I'm soooooo suuuuure your new GAY parents take such good care of you and want to cure you," he snarled. Herman seemed to enjoy winding her up and making her loose her temper in front of everyone. The class was enjoying it too; many people looked like they were watching a tennis match as Alexia and Herman argued back and forth.

"JUST BECAUSE QUIRRELL AND JOE ARE GAY DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE BAD PARENTS! THEY'RE MUCH BETTER THEN YOU'D EVER BE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Without even thinking about it Alexia picked up her clear plastic water bottle from the desk and hurtled it with all of her strength straight at Herman's face from her desk in the back of the room. He ducked just in time so it didn't hit his face and instead it smashed into the whiteboard and burst, leaving him soaking wet.

"GO TO THE INTERVENTION ROOM RIGHT NOW, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He screamed at her, finally losing it and yelling at her. Alexia threw her books into her bag and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Alexia marched down the hallway wanting to punch something. Fuming inside at Herman's insults to her parents and Voldemort and Quirrell, she tried a bit of calming draught. It tasted like overcooked cabbage but she drank it anyway, feeling calmer but guilty at messing up so early in the day. She didn't feel sorry for yelling at Herman, he deserved it, but she felt as though she'd let Voldemort and Quirrell down, especially Quirrell, as all of the other teachers tended to blame him for when she lost control.

So now she had to go to the intervention room, or 'the dungeon' as many students called it as it was in the basement of the school. The intervention room is a fancy name for the place where a student goes when they're in trouble, either to get assigned their detention/suspension or spend their detention down there reading a book while the creepy old lady who supervised by the name of Mrs. Norris stared at them to make them feel uncomfortable. Alexia had spent so much time down there that when Mrs. Norris glared at her with a look that'd make the football team cower Alexia could act casual, and maybe a bit witty depending on her mood.

Alexia walked down the staircase to the intervention room and tried to look less like a guilty disappointment to her dads and more like a sassy troublemaker. She flung open the door and swaggered in, "Yo," she said as she waved at Mrs. Norris.

Mrs. Norris glared at her and snapped, "Sit!" Alexia obediently sat and waited to hear her sentence.

"Herman just called me and told me about your outrageous behavior, you have to stay here for the rest of the period and you have an after school detention of cleaning the cafeteria."

"Do I get paid this time? You may as well fire the janitor and hire me," replied Alexia with a yawn, all of the yelling and stress had worn her out.

"Your disrespectful attitude needs to stop NOW!" snarled Mrs. Norris. "I'm calling Quirrell to let him know what you've done." Alexia sighed and stared off into space dreading what Quirrell would say when he found out what happened. 

"I am very disappointed in you all," scolded Quirrell as he looked out at his first period class. None of his students were paying any attention to him, most were talking, texting, or staring off into la la land, but he decided to keep talking and see if anyone even noticed he was there. "I asked for a five paragraph essay, and based on what I got back from most of you no one in here can count to four. No wonder why the school band only plays waltzes if your guy's math is that bad. And then we'll all buy rocket packs and fly to a magical school on Mars with talking lions." Quirrell sighed and sat down at his desk. He'd always had trouble getting students to respect/listen to him, and this morning he was too tired to care what they did as long as no fights started.

Right as he sat down the phone rang and he answered it hoping it was good news and that the person calling cared about what he had to say. "Hello?" he yawned.

"You child has an after school detention for violently disrupting her first period class and being disrespectful," answered Mrs. Norris's voice. Quirrell groaned inwardly, he'd been expecting Alexia to snap today from lack of sleep and from being thrown back into a large crowd after a long break but he hadn't thought it'd be this early in the morning. "I was under the impression you and your 'roommate' were giving her treatment for her temper problems."

"We are," responded Quirrell holding back another yawn. "We're trying herbal remedies instead of medication and pills. Her former guardian tried putting her on pills and it didn't work out." Since Alexia was probably in the room and could hear the conversation Quirrell avoided saying her uncle's name, she was already having a bad day.

"And giving her TEA isn't curing her severe problems!"

"Well, just give it some time, it'll work out," said Quirrell as he stretched and yawned again, yet again too tired to really care about the conversation. Somewhere in the back of his head he couldn't believe an old lady of all people just disregarded the power of tea but didn't pursue the subject. "Anyway, how'd she violently interrupt class?"

"She screamed some very uncalled for and unprovoked comments at Herman, who talked back to her in defense and then she threw a plastic water bottle at him, he ducked and it burst when it hit the whiteboard leaving him soaking wet." Quirrell understood why Alexia blew up first period she hated Herman's guts (so did he) and it was a math class, most people hated the subject. Mrs. Norris had obviously heard the story from Herman's point of view; Alexia probably wouldn't have thrown the water bottle unless if he'd said something that had really ticked her off and was something he'd never tell to Mrs. Norris.

"Hello? What do you have to say to your kid? She has a detention because of this!" Quirrell jumped at the sound of Mrs. Norris's voice, he'd been staring off into space for awhile.

Besides I wish I'd been there? "Uh, that was very wrong of you Alexia; you'll have to figure out another way to get home after your detention." Alexia would fly home, but Quirrell didn't want to make it sound like they had plans for if she got in trouble and had to stay after and he definitely didn't want to mention flying at school. "Your father and I will give you a long and painful lecture when you get home." In the background Quirrell heard Alexia cough, which was probably her trying not to laugh. Alexia knew very well that Voldemort would want to hear all about her pissing some muggle off and would be sad that she missed his face with the water bottle.

Mrs. Norris had snorted when he said 'your father and I' and Quirrell's thought that she approved of gays just as much as Herman did was confirmed. "Very well then," said Mrs. Norris. "It's required that the, parents/guardians of the child be notified of their child's misbehavior and punishment, I'll leave it up to you to call your roommate about it." Mrs. Norris hung up and Quirrell dialed Voldemort up right away hoping he'd cheer him up.

"Hey you," said Quirrell once Voldemort picked up.

"Quirrell? Aren't you at school? What happened? You don't usually call."

"Alexia got in trouble; I'll tell you all about it when I get home. She has to stay after school to clean the cafeteria again."

"Isn't she a little young to be working as a janitor?"

"Why yes, yes she is," replied Quirrell as he laughed a little at the Phineas and Ferb reference. Voldemort spent half of his time watching that show while he was at school, Disney+Ashley Tisdale+Music=Voldemort's new obsession. "So, how are things going back at home?"

"My wand is missing; but I'll find it. Anyways, shouldn't you be teaching something?"

"Yeah, I have a room full of obnoxious pre-teens that I'm supposed to teach but no one's paying any attention to me and I'm too tired to care," Quirrell yawned.

"You should get yourself some coffee with actual cream and sugar, or sweetener that wants to be sugar when it grows up, whatever the staff lounge has," said Voldemort. "You sound exhausted. Thanks for calling me though, I miss you."

"I miss you too honey," replied Quirrell with a soft smile. Even if some student noticed he was talking to someone like that he didn't care. "Good luck finding your, uh, stick of great power." Quirrell was trying to avoid saying the word wand and instead made it sound really wrong.

Voldemort burst out laughing and said, "Yes, I will find my stick of great power. Now go get yourself some coffee. Your next class might want to hear something you have to say."

"Okay," replied Quirrell as he hung up.

Back at home Voldemort hung up too and looked down at Alice and asked, "Have you seen my wand?"Alice nodded. Voldemort widened his eyes and said, "Well that's great, where is it?" Alice stuck her nose up into the air as if to say 'I'm never telling you'. "You won't tell me? Is this because you don't speak or are you just being a jerk?" 

Alexia walked up the stairs from the intervention room when the bell rang and walked to her second period English class hoping it went better than first period did. At least Mrs. Wormwood wasn't so against gays and was less likely to piss her off. She strode into class, took her seat (also in the very back row) and drank some calming draught. Even though she'd had a very stressful morning it didn't take much of the potion to calm her so it had barely any missing from the bottle.

Mrs. Wormwood walked up in front of the class once everyone was seated and called out, "Quiet down everyone! I have a special announcement to make!" Alexia thought it would be some stupid thing about a dance or something coming up but was surprised as the teacher continued, "We have a new student, everyone, this is Tom Hummel." She pointed to a short boy who'd been standing by the door.

Tom was rather short and skinny for being eleven; he was around Alexia's height and weight. His skin was near deathly pale, emphasized by his jet black hair and almost all black attire. His dark brown eyes darted nervously around the classroom as everyone stared at him.

"You're going to sit next to Alexia, that girl in the very back," said Mrs. Wormwood to him as she pointed at the empty seat next to Alexia. Tom stared at her and she waved back with a smile, finally someone who didn't know her bad history and probably didn't think she was a freak. As he walked past other people to get to her desk she realized by the way he looked at a few guys/his emotions while he looked at a few guys that he was actually gay.

Hello possible gay boyfriend. Tom sat down next to her and stared off at the cutest guy in the class who was sitting on the other side of the room with no one else noticing. "Hi," said Alexia with a smile. Tom jumped and looked at her.

"Oh, er, hi," he said. Alexia felt like she was seeing herself back when she used to be a nervous wreck all the time.

She put her hand on his shoulder and gently rubbed his back. Tom looked at her with a surprised expression but he didn't seem to mind her being moderately affectionate. "I don't bite you know, you can relax," she said in a soothing voice knowing how much having a caring friend helps her settle down. He nodded and calmed down, still startled by the fact that they'd known each other for less than a minute and she was acting as if they'd been friends for years. She continued to be warm to Tom all throughout class and he didn't seem to mind but she could tell he felt a little awkward, probably because he didn't know that she knew he was gay and thought she wanted to be his girlfriend.

At the end of class Alexia was in a cheerful mood and Tom was less nervous around her, it looked like she'd finally made a friend who was going to last more than a few months. "See you at lunch?" asked Alexia as the bell rang.

"Sure," he responded with a smile. He walked off to whatever he had third period and Alexia practically skipped down the hallway to art with her good mood lasting all throughout the class, even if the teacher didn't like the fact that she'd drawn her sixth dragon in a row.

Alexia ran into the cafeteria and found Tom settling down to sit at a table by himself. "Hi!" she said once she was close to him.

"Hi," he replied with a smile. Alexia jumped up and hugged him, he returned it but she could still feel that he was nervous.

"Nice coat," he commented feeling the soft purple material as he held her.

"Thanks," replied Alexia with a smile as they broke apart. She continued to beam at him until-

"Um, there's something you need to know," Tom started looking extremely shy. "I mean since you seem to be so into me-"

"If this is about you being gay I already know," said Alexia, smiling at Tom's startled expression.

"You already know? Oh my gosh it's that obvious?" Tom whispered looking frantic.

"No, it's not obvious I just… have a way of knowing things," said Alexia. "It's okay; I'm totally cool with it. I was just trying to get close to you as a good friend; you never have to feel uncomfortable around me. You're really the only friend I have in this school. Everyone else stays away from me because they think I'm a freak."

"Why would anyone ever think that about you? You're really nice," commented Tom.

"I have mood swings worse than a drunken woman PMSing," replied Alexia. "I was sent to the intervention room just this morning in first period for yelling at my teacher and throwing my water bottle at him."

Tom widened his eyes and said, "Wow, I would've never guessed. So, are you one of those girls who would talk about boyfriends and such if you had a girl buddy you hang out with and that kinda stuff?"

Alexia shrugged and said, "I've never had someone like that but I'll talk about pretty much anything with you. Got a crush?" she asked with a smirk.

"Sort of. You sure you wanna know?" he asked. "I kinda like him, but he's way too old for me."

"A teacher?" asked Alexia as she started laughing. "Do tell."

"The really cute myth and legend teacher I had for third period," he replied as Alexia took a sip of milk from her lunch and sprayed half of it onto the lunch table from laughing. "Is there something about him I don't know?" asked Tom. "No one can deny he's awesome in every way, so don't go saying he's not amazing."

Alexia caught her breath and said, "I know quite a few things about him no one else in this school knows."

"Out with it!"

"One, yes he is amazing," Alexia started with Tom eagerly listening. "Two, yes he is gay, but taken."

Tom looked slightly disappointed but said, "I should've known he'd be taken, being the sexy beast he is."

"Three, he likes reading Jane Austen novels out loud to his houseplants."

"Creepy that you know that, but that just makes him even cuter."

"And lastly, him and his gay roommate are my adopted dads," ended Alexia as she burst out laughing at Tom's face, that kid was so funny looking when he was shocked.

"Your DADS? Oh my God I'm so sorry I-"

"It's okay, it's really funny to me and he'd be flattered," Alexia smiled and continued eating her lunch. Tom was blushing beet red at admitting to liking one of his friend's dads without even knowing it.

"Well, Monday in class is going to feel really awkward now that I know that," said Tom as he started laughing too. (They started school on a Friday, mostly for students to come back and turn in anything that was due at the end of break and for teachers to throw a homework assignment at their students to do over the weekend.)

When the lunch bell rang they agreed to meet each other after school on a certain spot on the playground to talk about their day, they'd have time seeing as Alexia had to stay after and Tom walked home.

After school Alexia found Tom sitting on a swing on the playground. "So, how was your first day?" she asked. She felt a bit hyper after playing volleyball in P.E.

"Pretty good, but I've had a sore throat and cough all day, there must be some bug going around," he replied.

"Oh, I can get you some water," said Alexia as she pulled the blue water bottle out of her backpack and handed it to him. Tom took it gratefully as she said, "Drink as much as you need."

Tom made a bit of a face as he drank but continued to drink until the whole thing was gone; when he was done he dropped the water bottle on the ground and passed out, falling out of the swing.

Alexia stared in horror at him lying on the ground and at the bottle of calming draught that had been full just a few seconds ago.

**CLIFFHANGER! I was going to have this part be even longer but this point seemed like a good place to stop.**

**I know this chapter was kinda slow and loooong (it's the longest part yet) but everything that happens in 10 will make up for it**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Starkid or HP. It's taken a bit for me to get it up because of things like rewatching Starship, but it's finally here! There is some PG-13 stuff in here and 1 f-bomb, but for something as long as this that's not too bad, just a warning though, it's pretty unexpected.

…..

"Oh crap oh shit oh crap, I just drugged my new friend" whispered Alexia as she stared in horror at Tom lying on the ground. He was breathing slowly and deeply, obviously asleep. And since had no way to wake him seeing as he was in a magical sleep, she'd just have to wait for him to wake up on his own.

Knowing she only had one real option Alexia picked up Tom and his backpack up and started hovering above the ground. He should've been too heavy for her but she was already defying gravity, as long as she didn't think about flying or carrying someone as heavy as she was physics would look the other way. Instead while she flew she noticed that Tom was kinda cute when he was asleep and hoped that Voldemort and Quirrell wouldn't mind her bringing him home.

Alexia landed outside of their house right as Quirrell pulled into the driveway. "Hey Quirrell," she said as she gracefully stepped onto the ground in front of him.

Quirrell got out of the car and stared at her, "Alexia! What're you doing here? You're supposed to be in the cafeteria- IS THAT TOM?" Quirrell dropped the coffee cup he was carrying and stared at Tom's body in Alexia's arms.

"I'm really sorry, he needed a drink of water and I accidentally gave him the calming draught and he drank it all," said Alexia waiting to see if Quirrell was going to be angry at her. Quirrell sighed, came over to her and took Tom out of her arms; Alexia just noticed how heavy he was.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now. I'll bring him in and we can hope Voldemort doesn't throw a fit, he is a muggle, right?"

"I think so," replied Alexia, she'd held him for the last half an hour and hadn't felt any magic.

Quirrell pushed open the front door and walked in to see Voldemort making soup. "Hello," Quirrell said "We're having some company today, I hope you don't mind."

Voldemort looked up from the cauldron of chicken and vegetable soup and replied, "If you're planning on adopting that kid the answer's no."

"I wasn't planning on it seeing as he's a muggle."

Voldemort jumped and shouted "HE'S A MUGGLE? And you- just- UGH!" Voldemort hurriedly put away anything that was magical and dumped the cauldron of soup into a pot and put it on the stove.

When he was done he whirled around to face Alexia and hissed, "You befriended a muggle BOY!" Alexia knew he had a good reason to be upset but was still annoyed that Voldemort jumped to the conclusion that Tom would ever take advantage of her; especially since he was gay he'd never do that anyway.

"Wait!" said Quirrell as he looked down at Tom. "My Scarfy senses are tingling."

Tom was starting to stir in Quirrell's arms, he opened his eyes and stared at Quirrell, "Am I dreaming?" he asked as he looked dreamily up at Quirrell.

"No," replied Quirrell with wide eyes. "Alexia accidentally had you drink her medication earlier instead of water, so you were unconscious for about half an hour."

"Oh," murmured Tom. "Well, I'm sure glad I ended up here," he said with a smile.

"Are you gay?" asked Voldemort not caring how tactless he was.

"Yep," replied Tom as he continued to stare at Quirrell. Quirrell set him down into a chair and tried to ignore the way Tom was looking at him. Tom looked at Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia and asked, "I am at Alexia's house?"

"Yes, you are," said Quirrell "she brought you here because there might've been awkward questions if someone found out you had passed out from drinking her medicine. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's great," replied Tom. "Uh, can I call my mom and let me know where I am? Can I spend the night?"

Quirrell and Alexia both said yes at the exact same time Voldemort said no. Quirrell gave Voldemort a questioning look and Voldemort sighed and said, "Okay, I guess he can stay. But he's sleeping on the couch." Tom went off to call his family on his cell phone to let them know where he was while Voldemort served dinner.

When he finished his phone call Tom walked in from the living room and asked, "How and why is there an icicle in your fireplace?"

"Oh, uh, since you drank Alexia's medication it might give you hallucinations," improvised Quirrell as Voldemort snapped his fingers to make the icicle vanish. Tom looked back at the fireplace to see that the ice spike was gone and shrugged, buying the story that it was the medicine he'd drank.

Voldemort looked at Alexia and asked, "So, did you skip your detention?"

"Yeah I did, Tom was more important," Alexia replied with a smile as they all started eating.

All thought dinner Voldemort continued to stare at Tom. Tom finally looked up from his meal and asked, "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"You look exactly like my dad when he was little, and come to think of it, exactly like what I used to look like when I was little too," said Voldemort still staring at Tom and creeping him out a little. "Anyways, you look exactly like my dad. My dad that's dead. My father's dead. I have a dead father."

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that," said Tom looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Please, don't be," said Voldemort. "After he got my mother pregnant he left her and me, she gave birth to me in an orphanage and was so brokenhearted that she didn't fight to live for me and let me be raised in the orphanage. His name was Tom too." Tom, Alexia, and Quirrell stared at Voldemort in shock; Voldemort had never really talked about his past besides saying that he was an orphan. No one at the table had known that his father abandoned his mother before he was born and that she died of heartache.

Dinner continued in silence with no one really knowing what to say. Everyone finished as quickly as they could, Quirrell and Alexia set up Tom's bed on the couch. They weren't going to be going to bed for awhile, but it'd be good to have his bed set up before they all got too tired.

Voldemort absent mindedly took out his wand and made the dishes wash themselves. He was so upset he didn't notice anything was wrong until he felt the room go completely quiet.

Tom, Alexia, and Quirrell stared in shock as Voldemort calmly oversaw the post dinner clean up. Voldemort looked over and asked, "What?" Then he noticed Tom and widened his eyes as he realized what he'd done.

Tom stared in horror at Voldemort, his wand and the dishes, soap, and towels that were floating in the air doing their jobs. At first he started mouthing words and just stuttering but eventually Tom got out, "You- magic- YOU'RE EVIL!"

"You call washing dishes a work of evil?" asked Voldemort. With a sinister grin he said in a whisper as he twirled his wand, "You have no idea the things I could do to you, Tom." Voldemort's composure shifted, and he slammed Tom against a wall in the dining room, one hand around his throat the other pointing his wand at Tom's forehead.

Alexia and Tom were shaking from head to toe with fear at Voldemort's attack. His emotions and instinct all blurred together into something that was a bit like anger only much worse, and it was near impossible for Alexia to get why he was doing this. Alexia knew Voldemort was a mass murderer but had thought he'd changed; she'd never seen him like this and was instantly remembering her paranoia when Quirrell and Voldemort had first taken her in. All Tom knew was that he was probably going to be tortured, killed, or something horrible like that for reasons unknown to him and that there was no way out of it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Quirrell shouted as he tried to pry Voldemort off of Tom and didn't succeed (what a great time not to have his wand with him). Tom still shook as Voldemort's grip on his throat tightened and Alexia started crying, frozen with fear and unable to move.

"He's a muggle and knows of our magic!" hissed Voldemort "I should wipe his memory right now!"

"No, please don't!" whimpered Alexia. "He's the only friend I have right now, it's not his fault he's a muggle."

"I thought you had changed!" shouted Quirrell. Voldemort turned his head towards Quirrell as he continued, "Why did I trust you? You're still the same muggle-hating bastard who possessed me in the first place!"

"I have changed Quirrell; normally he would've had his memory wiped the second he walked in the door!" Voldemort loosened his grip and Tom was able to breathe again. "I'll let him live and keep his memory only if he swears not to tell anyone of our magic and will never hurt Alexia."

Quirrell and Alexia looked startled to hear that Voldemort was threatening Tom because of Alexia's safety but Tom was too scared to notice, "Okay! I'll never ever tell anyone that you guys use magic and I'd never hurt Alexia, she's my friend."

"You'd better not!" snapped Voldemort "My mother was a witch, a pureblood like Alexia. She was the descendant of one of the most powerful wizards in all of history. She fell in love with my father, they went off together. She got pregnant with me and he learned she was a witch and left her. I killed my father while I was still a teenager; I hate him for leaving my mother. I also murdered my muggle grandparents. I killed my uncle on the wizarding side of my family too, but that was a different incident. Anyways, IF YOU EVER LEAVE ALEXIA OR HURT HER I SWEAR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND DRUG AND KILL YOU!" Voldemort released Tom and pointed his wand at a rosebush outside "AVADA KEDAVRA!" he yelled and instantly killed the bush as an example of his power.

"YOU JUST KILLED BOB THE ROSEBUSH!" howled Quirrell as he burst into tears. Alexia started sobbing again from Quirrell's grief and Tom walked over and gave Quirrell a hug. Voldemort also came over and held Quirrell while ruffling Quirrell's hair.

"I'm sorry," he murmured softly. "To all of you" he said as he looked at everyone in the room. "I overreacted to you coming here Tom, you DO look like my father, but it's not your fault and you're not him and you genuinely care about Alexia. It just… seeing you brought up bad memories for me."

Tom nodded and said, "It's okay, that just really scared me. So uh, all of you can do magic?"

"Yeah," said Alexia with a smile. "You don't hate for me for it you?"

"Not at all, I was just wondering if I could see some, it's actually pretty neat."

"Okay," said Quirrell as he finished crying over his dead plant. "I'll be right back; I have to get my wand." He ran upstairs and came down with his wand. "_Orchideous!" _A bunch of flowers burst from Quirrell's wand, and he handed them to Tom, earning a smile from Tom.

Alexia took out her wand and muttered, _"Alohomora!" _The front door swung open, Tom looked impressed but Voldemort gave her a 'you can do better than that' look.

She sighed and tried to think of a really cool spell, the problem was that she didn't know very many showy spells. Oh, light bulb! Alexia jumped into the air and stayed there. With a smirk she flew over to Tom who was openly staring at her.

"You can fly too? How do you do that?"

"Faith, trust and pixie dust!" said Alexia. "Just kidding, I have no idea." She floated back down to the floor and gave Tom a hug, which he awkwardly returned.

Voldemort sighed and walked over to Alexia. She let go of Tom and he pulled her into a hug and gently scratched her back. Alexia didn't hug him back at first out of shock. Voldemort might be affectionate with Quirrell because they were- as much as Voldemort hated the pun- soul mates, but he never showed any physical love towards Alexia besides the group hug Quirrell dragged them into on Christmas. He held her and said, "I'm really sorry about earlier, go and get ready for bed and then you can talk to Tom for awhile and tell him about the Wizarding world, I get the feeling he'll be spending a lot of time around here. I'm going to bed right now, goodnight." Voldemort went upstairs and Alexia and Tom sat on the couch talking for the next hour with Alexia telling him all about her empathy, magic, and about the wizarding world.

Quirrell walked upstairs into his and Voldemort's bedroom to find Voldemort lying down in their bed. He was under the covers but was shivering for some reason.

Knowing how much he hated being cold (Azkaban had made it even worse) Quirrell lifted up the covers and crawled in beside Voldemort, snuggling up to him and wrapping his arms around Voldemort's waist. Once he was holding Voldemort he noticed that Voldemort didn't feel cold at all, and was in fact quietly sobbing and shaking into his pillow.

Voldemort crying was the last thing Quirrell expected to find, but he shouldn't have been surprised that after giving Alexia a hug he'd be feeling a little emotional. Quirrell reached over and held one of Voldemort's hands and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Voldemort replied with a sniffle.

"Everyone needs to show emotions at some point, it's okay," said Quirrell correctly guessing that Voldemort didn't want to talk to him was because of his hatred of showing 'weak' emotions to anyone, even Quirrell. "You can tell me anything, you know that. Come on, sit up and tell me what's wrong." Quirrell pulled Voldemort up and handed him the box of Kleenex that had been on his side of the bed since he was always the one crying.

"Um, I'm going to use a spell Snape taught me so we're not overheard," said Voldemort as he grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door. _"Muffiato!"_

Unfortunately, Voldemort's magic was still finicky, and instead of creating an invisible sound-proof wall the door was replaced by a small blueberry muffin sitting on the ground.

"_Unmuffinify," _said Quirrell restoring the door with a smile, that was the weirdest spell he'd ever heard. "Let me try what you attempted to do, _muffiato!" _

Apparently it worked because the door didn't turn into a muffin. "Okay then," said Quirrell "Why don't you take a seat on my lap?" Voldemort looked at Quirrell like he was crazy but crawled over to him with a sigh and curled up on top of Quirrell.

"So, what is it?" asked Quirrell wrapping his arms around Voldemort's waist and holding him close.

"It's not something I usually talk about," muttered Voldemort.

"Well you're not usually on top of a lap, are ya?" responded Quirrell with a smirk.

Voldemort smiled, put his head on Quirrell's shoulder, closed his eyes and said, "You're right. I guess. Lately I've been feeling horrible and stressed out."

"Why? What happened?" asked Quirrell as he gently rubbed Voldemort's back.

"Well, it's just that, you and Alexia are my only real, living family, and whenever you guys go off to school I feel lonely and I worry about you."

"You do?" asked Quirrell. "You could've talked to me about it sooner, you shouldn't bottle everything up inside, it's not healthy."

"I know, but all of my life has been me stuffing everything inside because I thought emotions were weak and that I could just hurt anyone who hurt me and it'd all be good but after I left the orphanage it didn't really turn out that way because life is just, so, COMPLICATED!" By this time Voldemort was sobbing uncontrollably on Quirrell's shoulder. "And now I'm crying without knowing why and I feel stupid and weak."

"You care about Alexia and me and you've never let yourself release any emotion out besides rage when you just go and kill or torture people, of course you're crying," Quirrell ruffled Voldemort's hair and kissed his forehead. "Just let everything that's bothered you in the last few years spill out."

"Well, trying to find someone who'd share a body with me was hard, and I was floating around for nearly 10 years to continue my life, and then once I was attached to you we were plotting stuff and now that I look back on it that part of our relationship really sucked," Voldemort said. "And then once I got my body back I could dance, which was nice. But then Bellatrix showed up and I felt horrible about leaving you and then she just acted like a bitch all the time. But after Molly Weasly killed her I felt guilty about hating her because- Quirrell you're hugging me too hard," said Voldemort.

Quirrell loosed his grip and muttered, "Sorry." Even though Bellatrix was dead he still remembered her torturing him in the graveyard.

Voldemort continued on without realizing he'd upset Quirrell and said, "I thought I loved her, and even though I know now that she wasn't much more than a fuck buddy, it's still confusing to me as to what that relationship really was. I'm not very good with emotions and just talking about emotions makes me ramble on and on. I know because I started keeping a daily journal about things that happened with us and my feelings shortly after we moved in together."

"Really?" asked Quirrell. "That's a great thing to do, where is it?"

"Right over there," replied Voldemort pointing at the bookshelf that Quirrell had crammed with romance novels. "It's right next to _'Pride and Prejudice'_."

Quirrell gave Voldemort a kiss on the mouth and was about to leave when Voldemort pulled him in again to make it last longer. "Thank you," murmured Voldemort "You're so warm and gentle, I feel a lot better now."

"I feel better too," said Quirrell with a smile. He got off of their bed and snatched the journal off of the shelf. "Do you mind if I read any of it?"

"I guess you can, just don't show Alexia."

"Why, is there something you don't want her to know?" asked Quirrell as he climbed back onto the bed and sat next to Voldemort.

"Well, it might be a bit awkward if she finds something like the August 5th entry."

"Or the 8th," said Quirrell as he flipped past that entry with a smirk.

"Yeah," yawned Voldemort as he lay down. "Where are you at right now?"

"Um… all of your evil plans to kill Alexia's uncle," replied Quirrell.

"I'm not going to actually do any of those but if felt good to write them down."

"I see number fifteen involves a voodoo doll."

"Yeah, you inspire me," said Voldemort and he adjusted the pillows and blankets so Quirrell could crawl in beside him.

"But now I'm near today, and besides all of the evil plans, you're really sweet, you should express yourself more often," said Quirrell. "I don't think Alexia knows how much you care about her." Quirrell put the journal on his bedside table and snuggled up to Voldemort under the covers finally noticing how tired he was.

Voldemort pulled Quirrell close to him and held him. Quirrell closed his eyes and yawned, nearly falling asleep until he felt Voldemort nuzzling his neck. "What's up?" asked Quirrell with a giggle, it didn't take much to set off his ticklishness.

"Your perfume smells nice," replied Voldemort. "I can finally smell flowers without sneezing."

Quirrell smoothed Voldemort's hair and sighed, "I love you."

"I love you too, now get some rest."

…..

Alexia woke up in the morning around seven not feeling completely rested but she decided to go and check on Tom anyway. She walked downstairs to find him already up and putting his bedding away with the TV on in the background. "Good morning!" said Alexia. "Hahaha, you have good taste in movies, Voldemort might get along with you better than we thought," she said with a smile.

"I saw the DVD on the shelf, I hope you don't mind that I'm watching it, I love 17 Again."

"Not at all," replied Alexia helping Tom fold the last blanket he had. "We'd better go up to Voldemort and Quirrell's room and see if they're awake so we know when you're going home."

"Sounds good."

Tom and Alexia headed upstairs to find the bedroom door shut, Alexia reached up to knock when she heard Voldemort say:

"THAT'S how you hold it? Let me show you how a man holds it."

Alexia froze and looked at Tom who stared back at her; she sincerely hoped she wasn't hearing what she thought she was…

Quirrell replied with, "Well, that way might give you a better grip but if you move your hand up a bit it won't chafe as much if you're doing something really fast."

"Oh, I see what you mean, that feels much better. It still doesn't feel quite right though."

"It's not in perfect condition, I don't know if it'll ever feel the way it used to."

"Yeah, it's seen a lot more action than yours has."

Tom covered his mouth with his hand to stop from laughing while Alexia stood with her mouth open. It WAS what she thought it had been.

"It's bendier than mine too," commented Quirrell.

"Yeah, yours might be shorter but it is thicker. How long is it again?"

"Around ten inches."

Outside the door Tom looked at Alexia with even wider eyes, mouthed, "DAMN!" and sadly looked down at the zipper on his black jeans.

"Since it's shorter than mine you could hold it here and get more out of it quicker than with the other way."

"You're right, but it'd be better if you squeezed harder on it, I find that it helps the energy flow faster."

"I experimented with mine and found that out too, but I didn't want to accidentally hurt yours by holding too tight."

Alexia and Tom were shaking with laughter and mortification and knew they should probably leave but they were already in trouble anyway.

"Voldemort, you can NEVER hold it too tight."

"I know, I was just being cautious. Now that I'm feeling the length of it its pretty sturdy, wish mine was more like it."

"You handle it amazingly, even if at times it doesn't work correctly for you, your body just isn't what it used to be. Can I hold mine for a sec? Wow, your hand must've been super warm, where your hand was is all sweaty," said Quirrell.

"You can use it better when it's nice and warm anyway."

"True, can I see yours again? I want to see if I can get something to come out of it. Thanks. _Alohomora!"_

The door swung inward to reveal Voldemort and Quirrell sitting on the bed (fully clothed) holding each other's wands.

"Oh," said Alexia looking at the wands.

"Yeah," said Tom, feeling sad that Quirrell's… wasn't actually ten inches.

"Good morning, what's up with you guys?" asked Voldemort giving Quirrell his wand back.

Alexia and Tom started stuttering as Quirrell looked from the wands to them and burst out laughing. "OH MY- YOU GUYS- REALLY- WOW!"

"Quirrell, what is it?" asked Voldemort.

Once he calmed down enough to breathe Quirrell grabbed a pillow and hugged it to cushion his now aching chest while he whispered something in Voldemort's ear.

Voldemort's eyes widened and he said, "WHAT? Why would we be doing that now? We did that already back in-"

_WHAM! _Quirrell smacked Voldemort with the pillow leaving a long awkward silence in the room.

They all stared at one another not knowing what to say until Voldemort spoke up again, "Just for the record, mine is longer though." Quirrell took the pillow and shoved it in Voldemort's face to get him to shut up while Alexia and Tom starting cracking up.

"So, Tom and I will go down and finish our movie and you two can uh, figure something out for breakfast." Alexia felt more awkward than she ever had in her life and didn't think she could handle making breakfast.

"Wow, that was, TMFI," she said as she sat next to Tom on the couch.

"Yeah, almost literally," replied Tom earning himself a pillow to the face.

15 minutes later Tom stood up to get a drink when Quirrell came out from the kitchen, "Hey guys, breakfast is ready, it's strawberries, pancakes, orange juice and coffee. We were going to have bananas too but after that little incident earlier we decided to skip those today."

Everyone sat down to the table to eat while Alexia noticed Alice under the table with a mini salad. Alexia started eating and heard Alice think at her _'Charmp! Charmp! Charmp!'_

"WHAT THE FIRETRUCK DOES CHARMP MEAN?" blurted out Alexia. Voldemort, Quirrell, and Tom all looked at her like she was going crazy as Alice replied,

'_It's a sound effect; I was doing that as I ate.'_

Alice hopped out from under the table and Tom screamed.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! YOU ARE THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!" He picked her up and stroked her fur. "I didn't know you had a bunny, she's adorable!"

Breakfast continued with Tom petting Alice on his lap and Alice saying random things to Alexia to make her say weird things.

Quirrell took Tom home when everyone finished while Alexia and Voldemort did the dishes and watched 17 Again. When Quirrell got home he looked at the calendar and said, "Oh, it's still on December." He started to flip the page over when he called out "Voldemort?"

"What's up Quirrell?" asked Voldemort as he walked into the kitchen followed by Alexia and Alice.

"Your birthday was the 31st of December, I missed it." Quirrell looked like he was about to cry as he continued, "I totally forgot, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay; we had guests over and sort of had a party. I don't mind that I didn't get anything in the way of gifts, it's enough to be here with you guys."

"I feel really bad about it though, are you sure you don't want anything?" asked Quirrell.

"Since you asked…" started Voldemort with a smirk. He didn't care that alexia was right in the kitchen with them as he put his hands on Quirrell's chest and pushed him against the wall.

"I think you know exactly what I want."

**REVIEW PLEASE! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, it's been forever since I've posted anything, sorry. I had finals and other things going on, I hope I made it worth the wait :D REVIEWS ARE TOTALLY AWESOME!**

"Wow, your muscles are really tight, you should stretch before we do this so you don't get hurt as much. Give me ten minutes and I'll have you nice and loose," said Voldemort.

"I should be fine, I don't think I'll be falling over THAT much," replied Quirrell as he pulled on his roller skates. "Besides, the time for stretching was before we left the house."

"I'll be falling over a lot, I've never been roller skating," said Alexia looking worried as she tied the laces on her skates.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it if you follow my lead," reassured Voldemort. He finished putting his rollerblades on, stood up and said, "After all, I'm probably the best skater here. You want proof?" Voldemort skated from the carpeted area with benches and tables for those who were eating or putting on skates out to the skating floor, where he looked like an Olympic ice skater, down to doing spins and jumps.

"Woah," said Alexia staring at Voldemort skate around the track. She wasn't the only one staring, many people were starting to notice him and some were even cheering and applauding.

"Well, I guess I should've known how good he was, he's an amazing dancer," said Quirrell. "Okay, stand up, I'm going to show you how to skate and hopefully not fall over."

Alexia shakily stood up on her skates and nearly fell. Quirrell reached out and steadied her. "It'll take some getting used to but you'll get the hang of it. Stand with your legs a bit farther apart, you won't fall as much." Quirrell spent the next fifteen minutes teaching Alexia about skating while Voldemort continued showing off.

When Alexia felt ready Quirrell lead her out to the skating track. "The wheels on your skates are going to want to move even more on the track than on the carpet, so be prepared. Also, let yourself move and just go with it, freezing up is a guaranteed way to fall." Alexia nodded and nervously put one foot on the smooth floor feeling how slick it was.

"Um, I don't think I can do this, maybe next time? I think I'll be safer on the carpet." Alexia started to move off the track but Quirrell caught her.

"No, you're going to at least try on the track today. I'll skate a lap around and you can watch, Voldemort is using rollerblades so you can't really follow what he does." Quirrell left her by a wall to hang on to and sped around the track, waving at Voldemort as he went by. He came back to Alexia and said, "Now you try it. We'll go slowly and I'll be right beside you."

Long story short Alexia's knees were covered with bruises by the time she went around the track once.

"Next time I'll wear kneepads," said Alexia as she tried to push off from the wall and fell over again.

"You're getting a bit better though," replied Quirrell. "You can probably make it all the way around the track on your own."

"Hey guys, having fun?" asked Voldemort as he came by them and jumped over Alexia with a smirk.

"Wow, aren't you just a kind and loving person!" shouted Quirrell. He turned toward Alexia as she got back up and asked, "Do you mind if I go after him?"

"Sure, if I'm right this is your guy's first official date together, like, in public," replied Alexia with a smile. "You two need the time with each other." Quirrell blushed, nodded, and skated off after Voldemort. Meanwhile Alexia practiced not falling over. She was getting better, but she still tripped a lot.

"Hey!" called out Quirrell as he sped up to get next to Voldemort. They both hit the padded wall to stop and watch Alexia skate.

"Hi, how are you?" asked Voldemort with a smile. Quirrell got the feeling that if they weren't in public he probably would've kissed him. Too bad.

"I'm fine. You want to get something to eat here? It looks like they have hot dogs, pizza, some random snacks, soda, and Slushees."

"Sure, if you'll go and fetch Alexia," replied Voldemort.

"I will in a sec," said Quirrell. He put one arm around Voldemort, leaned against the wall so he didn't fall, and kissed Voldemort without caring if anyone was watching. Voldemort looked nervous about making out in front of so many people but kissed him back anyway.

They continued for what must've been a couple minutes enduring wolf whistles from people passing by, and they only broke off after someone yelled "Get a room!"

"I think we will!" shouted Voldemort. Quirrell blushed and laughed while people around them either "ewwed" or "awwed". They both glanced around to find Alexia and saw her give them a thumbs up from across the skate floor.

"Well, let's go get something to eat," said Quirrell. He motioned to Alexia to follow them as they skated up to the snack bar, got three Slushees and sat down at a table. Alexia skated over to their table and looked proud about not falling over until she tried to sit down and managed to trip herself on her own chair.

"That was special," said Voldemort with a smirk.

"I know," said Alexia as she winced and dragged herself off the floor into her seat. She took a sip of the Slushee and commented, "Wow, these are good."

"Yep," said Quirrell. "Hey Voldemort, let's go and do the hokey pokey. The skate deck people are about to start it." Out on the skate floor some people were starting to get into a circle and music started to play over the intercom.

"Uh, I don't know Quirrell-"

"It'll be fun!"

"Yeah but-"

"YOU ARE GOING TO DO THE HOKEY POKEY WITH ME RIGHT NOW," Quirrell said loudly with a smirk as he pulled Voldemort up from his seat. Alexia was laughing as she watched Voldemort half heartedly fight back and Quirrell try to drag him out.

"Quirrell, I don't want to do the hokey pokey in front of all these muggles!"

"Stop for a sec," said Quirrell as he released Voldemort. Voldemort stood up on his own and sighed. "Think about what we're going to do later. I think me asking you to do the hokey pokey isn't all that bad."

Voldemort smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right, I kinda owe it to you." At the same time Alexia choked, and they both looked over to see red liquid coming out of her nose. "Nosebleed much?"

"No," she gasped. "I inhaled some of my cherry Slushee and it's coming out through my nose. You guys go and have fun." Quirrell grabbed Voldemort's hand and dragged him onto the skate floor and into the circle right as it started.

At first Voldemort had a sour look on his face that suggested that he'd rather be at the muggle dentist, and then he started grinning in a way that thoroughly worried Quirrell.

"What's up?" asked Quirrell as he put his left skate in.

"I'm thinking about things going in and out," replied Voldemort, making it very clear that he was thinking about what would happen later that night. Quirrell wanting to smack him, but instead he pulled his left skate out of the circle in a wide arc and tripped Voldemort, making him land flat on his face. Unfortunately for Quirrell he lost his balance when his skate had hit Voldemort's leg and he fell forward as well but managed to break the fall with his hands.

"Uuuuugh," moaned Voldemort. "That hurt. But at least you fell with me."

"Shut up," said Quirrell as he started laughing. "My knees are probably really bruised up." Voldemort and Quirrell managed to stand up and finish the Hokey Pokey without hurting each other even if Voldemort's mind was in the gutter.

Once it was over they sped over to the table to see how Alexia was doing with her horrible brain freeze. "Hey guys," she said once they were near her. "I'm not feeling good. Watching you guys do the Hokey Pokey was fun though."

"I'll bet it was," Voldemort muttered with a glance at Quirrell. "Skating was totally awesome and all, but we're all injured and tired, so let's go home."

"Actually I need to take you somewhere before we go home," said Quirrell with a smile.

"Where?" asked Voldemort.

"It's a surprise."

Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia took their skates off, got shoes back on, and walked out to Quirrell's beat up car. "Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" asked Voldemort.

"You'll just have to wonder for awhile." Everyone got in and Quirrell drove for awhile, never saying where they were going until they arrived in front of a pet store.

"I know you're at home a lot, and that you're lonely because you have no one to talk to, so I wanted you to get a snake," said Quirrell. "Alexia said she wouldn't mind, and you really need a companion while we're gone."

"Thank you," said Voldemort with a smile. "Ever since Nagini died I've longed to have a snake. It's like people who have a cat, and the cat dies and they have to get another one because not having your pet makes you feel all sad inside." Voldemort frowned and looked like he was about to start crying until Quirrell kissed him.

Quirrell broke the kiss only a few seconds later and said, "Come on, let's go and get you a pet. Just make sure whoever you get is non-venomous. Hey Alexia! We're going in." Alexia had fallen asleep and now jerked awake.

"Whu?"

"We're at the pet store."

"Cool." Alexia stretched, yawned, and climbed out of the car.

They walked inside and Voldemort immediately headed towards the reptile section. He turned around and asked Quirrell and Alexia, "Aren't you guys coming?"

"I'll come and look at them," said Alexia.

"Um, I want to go and look at the adorable little kittens over there," said Quirrell pointing to the other end of the store. "I'll spend plenty of time with the snake you pick out, but I never get to see kittens."

"You know we're not getting a kitten, right?" asked Voldemort.

"I know, but they're just so cute and fluffy."

Voldemort sighed and said, "Fine. Meet me over by the counter in about fifteen minutes, I should have found someone by then." Quirrell nodded and ran off to pet the kittens while Voldemort and Alexia wandered around looking at snakes with Voldemort talking to them and Alexia sensing their emotions.

Eventually Voldemort came to a cage and stopped. "Oooh, look at this one, she's a grass snake." He frowned and said, "I'm pretty sure they're protected and that she shouldn't even be here, but she sure is gorgeous."

"And depressed," added Alexia. The snake was around two and a half feet long and was a dark emerald green with a yellow ring of scales around its neck. It was also in the very back of the cage and it looked like it was trying to hide from everyone but was too large to succeed.

"Yeah, she's scared," said Voldemort. He moved as close as he possibly could to the cage and started to softly hiss at the snake inside, gently reassuring and comforting it. After awhile it came closer to him and started talking back.

"What's up?" asked Alexia.

"Apparently she was captured by the shopkeeper a few months. She was in the area because there are a lot of toads out back in the pond. Ever since she's been stuck in here and is incredibly shy around people. And she's been forced to eat earthworms." Voldemort unlatched the cage door, picked the snake up, and let her wrap around his right arm while he stroked her and soothed her nerves.

"Hey! What're you doing?" One of the employees of the pet store came running up to Voldemort and stared at the snake on his arm. "You're not allowed to do that! It could bite you!"

"I've handled snakes before, I'm fine," said Voldemort as he continued petting the snake. "By the way, I want to talk to your manager."

The employee rushed off to get his boss while Voldemort talked to the snake, "I'm naming her Belinda," he said.

"Why?" asked Alexia.

"It means 'beautiful snake'. And she likes that name."

The harassed looking manger came up to Voldemort and started shouting, "What are you doing with that snake? It's not allowed outside of its cage."

"I got it handled, I'm an expert with snakes. I used to cuddle with the biggest adder you've ever seen," replied Voldemort. "By the way, it's illegal to have her here in this store, she's protected by law. But, if you let me have her for free, I'll take her off your hands and you'll never have to worry about it."

"That thing isn't protected!" snapped the shopkeeper, although he did look a bit worried.

"Yes she is, she's a grass snake. I can call the uh, animal police on you."

"Fine! Take the snake!"

"And a few toads for her to eat? She hates the earthworms you've been giving her." The manager looked like he was about to ask how Voldemort knew that but decided he wanted him and the snake out of his store as soon as possible.

"Whatever, just get out of here." Voldemort and Alexia walked off to find Quirrell in the kitten area holding and cuddling with the cutest kitten Voldemort had ever seen. Belinda saw the cats and immediately slithered up into Voldemort's shirt and wrapped herself around his waist to hide.

Quirrell walked up to him holding the kitten and said, "I know we said we wouldn't get a kitty but-"

"The answer's still no Quirrell." Quirrell dejectedly looked down at the kitten but didn't put it down. He opened his mouth to argue but Voldemort cut him off. "I know you love kittens and puppies and everything that's almost as adorable and cute as you, but we still aren't getting a kitten." Quirrell smiled when Voldemort called him cute and tried to cut in again but Voldemort held up his hand to stop him. "The thing is, Belinda, our new snake, is hiding in my shirt because she's terrified of cats. And you have Alice at home and all of your plants; I think you'll be okay. Anyway, none of us can talk to a cat to get it not to hurt Belinda or Alice. I'm sure it'll get a good home, after all it is a kitten, even muggles love them."

Quirrell gently nuzzled the kitten before he set it down with the other ones. "Are we going then?"

"After we get some toads for Belinda, she's a grass snake, I got her free of charge since it's illegal for her to be in here and I convinced the shopkeeper to let me take her off his hands. She won't need a cage since she can just wander the house, but the toads will need a cage." The three of them set off, got some toads along with toad food and a small cage for them, and got a box to put Belinda in during the ride home. Voldemort didn't want someone to accidentally hurt her if she was roaming around the car and he didn't want her to hurt herself on some random object in the car either. As he said to Alexia and Quirrell, Belinda wasn't the brightest snake he'd ever met (Belinda couldn't understand human speech yet, but pets of wizards begin to understand their owner's language after awhile).

The ride home was uneventful except for Quirrell being annoyed by Voldemort and Belinda's constant whispering. Once they pulled in at the house Voldemort carried Belinda's box inside, let her out, and set her by the fire in the living room where she could be warm. Quirrell carried the mini aquarium with a couple toads in it and set it on a shelf making sure the toads had food. Alice hopped downstairs from Alexia's room to meet Belinda. They seemed to get along well and could talk to each other.

Alexia walked out and asked, "Do you want to replace the icicle in the fireplace? It wouldn't end well if someone tried to get here by Floo Powder and they stepped on Belinda or Alice when they're by the fire."

"Good idea." Voldemort took out his wand and amazingly the ice spike reappeared correctly and in the right place. He walked out to the kitchen where Quirrell was drinking a glass of water and said, "So. Now that it's later in the day…" Voldemort waited until Quirrell was done drinking and gently pushed him against the wall, his hands affectionately rubbing Quirrell's chest.

"Mmm," Quirrell moaned a little bit and said, "Well, it's still kinda early in the day, it's four in the afternoon. We should wait."

"I can do this at least." Voldemort wrapped his arms around Quirrell and kissed him until Quirrell pulled away a few seconds later.

"Um, wanna watch a movie?" Quirrell wasn't sure Voldemort heard him since he was nuzzling Quirrell's neck now that he couldn't kiss him.

"I'll make the popcorn!" Alexia volunteered.

Alexia obviously got Voldemort's attention, his head snapped up and he said in shock, "EXCUSE ME!"

"It's for watching a movie, silly," said Quirrell as he burst out laughing on Voldemort's shoulder.

"Oh, okay. I'll make the popcorn and you guys can pick something out to watch. Preferably something none of us has seen before." Quirrell and Alexia walked out to the living room to channel surf while Voldemort got out a couple bags of popcorn and zapped them with his wand. He dumped them into two bowls, one for him and Quirrell to share and one for Alexia. The popcorn tasted alright, even if it did have a garlic aftertaste due to his messed up magic. Oh well, that just meant Quirrell would like it even more.

Voldemort walked out into the living room with the popcorn and asked, "Have you guys found anything yet?"

"Have you guys ever seen X-Men?" asked alexia. "I've seen it before, but it's been awhile. I'd love to rewatch it."

"Sure," said Voldemort handing Alexia her bowl of popcorn and letting Quirrell take theirs as he sat down and snuggled up to Quirrell. Belinda and Alice decided to get to know each other someone else without the noise from the movie and slithered/hopped up to Alexia's room.

Everyone enjoyed the movie, especially Quirrell. Much to Voldemort's dismay, within fifteen minutes Quirrell had a raging fanboy crush on Hugh Jackman.

At the end during the credits Quirrell really started spazzing out about him. "Oh my wizard god he is so HOT. Like, supermegafoxyawesomehot. He is just, A SEXY BEAST!"

"I'll fix that," said Voldemort setting the now empty popcorn bowl aside. He pulled Quirrell close to him and passionately kissed him while unbuttoning Quirrell's shirt. Once Quirrell's shirt was completely open Quirrell wrapped his legs around Voldemort's waist and sat on his lap with both of them still kissing.

"Okay, so erm, I'll go get Alice and Belinda and head downstairs and sleep down there too so you guys are left alone. Have a good time."

Alexia picked up Alice and Belinda from her room and was walking down the stairs to the dungeon when Quirrell broke apart from Voldemort and exclaimed, "Wait!"

"Ughhhhh, what is it?" whined Voldemort. "You've made me wait all day and once we get started there's something else?"

"Yes," replied Quirrell. "Alexia, has anyone ever given you 'the talk'?"

Alexia blushed beet red and said, "Um, no but I get the general idea."

"I'm going to fix that." Quirrell untangled himself from a disappointed looking Voldemort. "I'll be back in a minute." He took out his cell phone, texted someone, removed the icicle from the fireplace, and grabbed some Floo Powder….

Minerva McGonagall was sitting at her desk enjoying the late afternoon/early evening sunlight of a long but peaceful Saturday. All of the papers had been graded, no Gryffindor misbehaviors had been reported, and most importantly Scarfy, Sorty, and Myrtle hadn't bothered her all day.

But then she got a text from Quirrell. "Oh my God, Quirrell quit texting me!" she snapped at the empty room. All of a sudden the fire in the fireplace flashed bright green and Quirrell walked out with his shirt unbuttoned and soot in his hair.

"Did you get me text?" asked Quirrell.

"Yes."

"Well, you didn't text me back."

"I wasn't sure how to reply to 'Expect me in your fireplace in two seconds'," said McGonagall with a frown at Quirrell. "Why are you here and why is your shirt undone?"

"What?" Quirrell looked down at his shirt and said, "Oh, um, me and my boyfriend were about to, well, long story short I need to borrow Scarfy tonight."

Minerva grimaced and obviously did NOT want to know why Quirrell needed Scarfy but called for him anyway. "Scarfy!"

Myrtle, Sorty, and Scarfy appeared out of nowhere with a crack like a whip. Sorty was holding a clean roll of toilet paper in his mouth and Myrtle was giggling. Minerva was glad she'd be getting rid of them soon. She looked and Scarfy and said, "Um, Quirrell needs you to come over to his house tonight."

"Am I allowed to go too?" asked Myrtle with a smile. "Otherwise, it'll be you and me all alone tonight in this office together-"

"YES. PLEASE GO! Scarfy, you can Disapparate these people out of here." Quirrell, Sorty, and Myrtle all touched Scarfy and he Disapparated out. McGonagall sighed and leaned back in her chair again, relieved that it was going to be a peaceful night for her after all.

Quirrell and company all arrived at his house to find Voldemort still on the couch and Alexia nervously standing by the stairs. "Hey guys," he called out as Myrtle drifted away from him and sat on the couch next to Voldemort (Voldemort scooted away from her). "Scarfy is here to give Alexia the talk. Sorty and Myrtle, you guys can go down too and keep her company. Voldemort and I will be… upstairs."

Scarfy nodded and said, "We'll all come up after you guys are done or when I'm finished telling her everything I know, those will probably take the same amount of time so it's all good."

"Um," Alexia spoke up. "How will you be able to tell when they're done?"

Quirrell sighed and replied, "Scarfy can sense anyone making love within a two mile radius. He'll be able to tell when it's safe to come up." Voldemort and Alexia looked officially creeped but both nodded anyway.

Scarfy jumped in saying, "It's true; I can tell that right now your heterosexual neighbors are about to fu-"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" interrupted Voldemort. Alexia, Myrtle, Scarfy, Sorty, Belinda, and Alice and went downstairs while Voldemort and Quirrell practically ran upstairs into their bedroom and locked the door behind them.

-2 AND A HALF HOURS LATER-

Voldemort and Quirrell were showered and in pajamas cuddling on the couch under a large fluffy blanket. They were both exhausted but they had agreed to stay awake and wait for Alexia to talk to her. Voldemort held Quirrell on his lap as they kissed and talked.

"I made you wait way too long for this," said Quirrell. "I feel tired and really sore (especially in my lower back) but it was all worth it."

"Well, you starting work and us adopting Alexia separated us a little, but we're finally back to where we were in August, only even more affectionate and loving if possible," said Voldemort gently rubbing Quirrell's back.

"Yeah." Quirrell sighed and leaned on Voldemort with his eyes closed. "I wonder how Alexia's doing. I remember getting 'the talk' from Scarfy. It was kinda traumatizing."

"It can't be worse than my talk," said Voldemort with a shudder.

Quirrell sat up with a smirk, "Do tell."

"It still haunts me to this day," began Voldemort. "I was ten; that's when the ladies at the orphanage give you 'the talk'. This older one pulled me into the kitchen and was going to tell me how life worked. Well, she used a more simplified version for us kids to get the general idea. She had two pieces of bread on the counter, one had peanut butter on it and the other had jelly." Quirrell saw where this was going and started giggling as Voldemort acted it out. "She picked up the two and put one face up in each hand and said 'This piece of bread, and this piece of bread love each other veeeeeeeerry much. So then you have SEX!'" He clapped his hands and Quirrell collapsed on the couch laying down on his back and laughing so hard his chest hurt.

"Quirrell! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" shouted Voldemort over Quirrell's laughter. "I haven't been able to eat a peanut butter jelly sandwich since!"

Right at that moment Alexia and everyone else came up from downstairs with Alexia looking like she wanted to puke. Scarfy spoke up from around her shoulders, "Mission accomplished! Alexia now knows all there is to know about gay sex, lesbian sex, and straight sex."

Myrtle floated over to Quirrell and said, "We gotta gay- I mean, go. Bye." Quirrell nodded and waved still paralyzed with laughter. Myrtle's "We gotta gay" made him laugh even more.

Scarfy was about to Disapparate but he stopped and said, "Oh! By the way, Alexia's going to get her first period in exactly 42 days, just thought I'd let you know so you'd be prepared and wouldn't have to rush to the store to get pads. Tampons should be avoided unless you're going swimming or something, they can block stuff and cause-"

"SCARFY I REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW! Voldemort shouted. "I'm sure Quirrell knows everything and can handle it."

"And getting training bras soon would be a good idea."

"Thanks Scarfy," said Quirrell with a smile. He turned towards Voldemort and said, "We adopted a girl, get over it." Alexia burst out laughing at Voldemort's expression as Scarfy, Sorty, and Myrtle left.

"Okay, um, anything you need to talk about?" asked Voldemort looking at Alexia.

"Nope."

"Good. Let's all get some rest."

Normally it's Quirrell who wakes Voldemort up with weird dreams, but this time it was vice versa. Quirrell found himself being poked in the shoulder or back while Voldemort kept saying, "Quirrell. Quuuuuuuirell. Hey Quirrell! My Quirrell! Quirrell! Squirrel Quirrell squirrel! Hey! Hey! Quirrell! Quuuuuuuuirrrreeeeell. Quirrelly. Quirrellness Quirrell!" Finally Quirrell had enough and rolled Voldemort over onto his back.

"What do you want!"

"I drew you a picture!" Voldemort punched Quirrell in the face, while apparently in his dream he was showing him a picture. Quirrell was knocked unconscious and fell off the bed with a thud onto his back.

The next morning Voldemort and Alexia were downstairs in the kitchen first making coffee, toast, and eggs. Quirrell came downstairs limping and wincing.

"Good morning!" Voldemort called out. "How are you?"

"My back hurts AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Quirrell sat down at the table and winced again.

Alexia groaned and said, "TMFI. I didn't want to know that."

"No, it's not what you think, although that does contribute," said Quirrell. "Voldemort punched me in the face in his sleep knocking me unconscious. I fell on my back on the hard floor and I lay there all night, and this morning my back super hurts."

"I knocked you unconscious?" asked Voldemort. "Wow, you have a glass jaw."

"Yeah he does," said Alexia. "I almost knocked him out with my pillow once."

Belinda slithered into the kitchen and asked Voldemort _'I forgot to asssssssssk lasssssssst night, but I wisssshhh I had. May I ssssssssssleep in your bed with you and your mate for warmth during the cold days?'_

Quirrell jumped and screamed. "Oh my gosh! I heard her talk!"

Voldemort stared at Quirrell with confusion until it dawned on him why. "Quirrell, you're a Horcrux. Some of my powers might've transferred to you, like it did with Harry. That's why you can understand her." Voldemort turned his attention to Belinda and hissed, _'Yesss, of courssse you can. As long as Quirrell is okay with it."_

Quirrell stared at Belinda and tried to speak Parseltongue. To his amazement, it worked. _'Sssssure, I don't mind.'_

Alexia stared with puzzlement at them hissing until Alice came over to her and translated; she understood it since it was an animal language.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly. No one did much of anything since they were all tired and it was freezing outside, so they all hung out and relaxed.

Right before everyone went to bed Alexia came up to Voldemort and Quirrell and asked, "Do you guys mind if I invite Tom over tomorrow after school?"

"Nope, it's okay with me," said Voldemort. Quirrell nodded and yawned before going to bed.

The next day at school it snowed on and off, and by the end of the day there was six inches on the ground. All after school activities were canceled, freeing Alexia from having to do detention that day as a makeup from her skipping it Friday.

Tom, Alexia, and Quirrell all made it to Quirrell's house safely, even though there was now about nine inches of snow and ice on the ground. The minutes Quirrell walked in the phone rang letting them know there wouldn't be any school the next day.

Alexia asked Voldemort, "Can Tom spend the night? There's no school tomorrow and it's a complete mess out there."

Voldemort sighed and said, "Fine."

Tom confirmed that he could stay the night and gave Alexia a hug (Right behind them Voldemort conjured a rubber band, put it on his wrist, and started snapping it).

Quirrell smiled and said, "Anyone one want hot chocolate?" Quirrell went into the kitchen to start working but Voldemort playfully pushed him away.

"Hot cocoa is my job."

Alexia turned towards tom and with a delight smile and said, "This is going to be the best sleep over ever!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Alexia.

"I dunno," replied Tom as he watched Voldemort and Quirrell make hot chocolate in the kitchen. "Watch a movie maybe?"

"Sure, that sounds great." Alexia walked in to kitchen and said, "Hey guys, Tom and I want to watch a movie while we have hot cocoa. What do you guys want to watch?"

"I don't really care," said Voldemort with a yawn. "Hey Quirrell, list off some movies you have that we could watch."

"Um, _Emma, A Love Story, Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice-_"

"Some GOOD movies."

Quirrell glared at Voldemort before continuing, "_Indiana Jones, Lost in Space, Alien, Die Hard, Jaws, Star Wars. _What kind of movies do you want?"

"I'll watch anything you pick out," Tom piped up with a slight blush. "Comedies are good. I wouldn't mind watching _Die Hard_; it's my favorite Christmas movie."

"How about _The Princess Bride_?" asked Alexia. "Everyone's seen it, but it's still totally awesome."

"I've never seen it," said Voldemort.

"WHAAAAAAT?" everyone else in the room exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness, that movie is sweet, funny, witty, everything you'd want in a movie," gushed Quirrell. "You'd love it. Popcorn anyone?"

Five minutes later Voldemort and Quirrell were curled up together in their usual spot with popcorn and Alexia and Tom were on the other end of the couch sitting side by side sharing a bowl of popcorn and holding Alice. Belinda was inside Quirrell's shirt with her head sticking up out of his collar. Quirrell didn't mind, and this way she was with the warmest person and could still talk to Voldemort.

"Why does this popcorn taste like garlic?" asked Tom.

"Um, my magic doesn't work right all the time," replied Voldemort.

"Oh yeah, I remember that your wand doesn't work the right way all the time," said Tom with an embarrassed giggle.

"We're never going to live the morning down," said Quirrell with a smile. "Oh well, let's watch the movie already."

Everything went fine until the shrieking eel's scene. Belinda had never seen Tom before and knew he probably couldn't talk to her but she wanted to say hi anyway. For some reason she could slither in and out of people's clothing without them knowing until they saw her or she started hissing, so no one noticed when she slithered down Quirrell's shirt, out onto the couch, and then up Tom's shirt.

Right as the shrieking eel opened its mouth to bite Buttercup; Tom turned and saw Belinda staring at him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Tom screamed as loud as he could while everyone else laughed at him.

Quirrell pause the movie and said with a smirk, "It's okay, she won't hurt you, she's just saying hello."

"Oh God. Please let me know when you guys buy a new pet, she scared the hell out of me." Belinda nuzzled Tom's neck and then slithered out of his shirt and back onto the couch.

'_Hey Belinda, would you go find my wand?' _asked Voldemort.

Belinda did her best to look confused and replied, _'You need me to find it?'_

'_Yessssss.'_

'_If you ssssay ssssso.' _Belinda slithered off the couch and onto the floor.

"Shall we resume?" asked Quirrell. Everyone nodded so he pressed the play button.

The next few minutes were uneventful until Belinda hissed, _'I found it.'_

"WHAT THE WIZARD HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Voldemort screamed as he looked down to see Belinda poking up out of the waistband of his pants.

'_I found your wand. Isssn't that what you wanted?'_

Alexia and Tom were dying of laughter and Quirrell was blushing beet red and covering his mouth with his hand.

"Ugh!" Voldemort tried to think of some way to explain Belinda's mistake to her. _'I wanted you to find my MAGIC wand. Thissss one doessssn't do magic.'_

'_That'ssss not what Quirrell sssaid.'_

Quirrell managed to blush even more as he covered his face with his hands. Voldemort looked over to see Alexia stare at Alice for a second, then giggle and whisper something in Tom's ear. Slowly he started to put together what he was seeing, but at the moment he needed to take care of Belinda.

Belinda seemed to have realized her mistake, she hissed, '_Ssssorry. I'm ssstil getting ussssed to human phrassssing.'_

'_It'sss okay. I'll have Quirrell get it.' _ Quirrell understood and got up, still having trouble with hiding his embarrassment.

Voldemort looked down and Belinda and motioned for her to slither up his shirt. As she made her way up he shuddered, twitched and tried not to scream again; how on Earth had he NOT noticed her down there?

There was a sound of running/splashing water from the kitchen followed by Quirrell coming out holding Voldemort's wand. Apparently he had drenched his face in cold water, but it still looked slightly pink.

"Sorry," Quirrell muttered as he cuddled up with Voldemort. Without even thinking about it, Voldemort pulled Quirrell close to him and kissed him. They would've carried on for awhile if Tom and Alexia hadn't simultaneously started 'Awwwwing'.

"Sorry," said Tom. "That was so adorable I couldn't help myself."

"Yeah, and I picked up on it."

"Are you telling me you never find them cute while they're snuggling or making out?"

"Of course I do, but I'm used to it by now." Alexia laughed at Tom's unbelieving expression and continued, "They do it all the time."

Quirrell was blushing again and Voldemort decided that they should really change the subject. "Um, Alexia, this is going to sound really stupid but I'll ask anyway. Can Alice talk to you?"

"Yep," replied Alexia. "I'm the only one she can talk to, and I have no idea why."

"Okay. I was just wondering."

"Moving on?" asked Quirrell holding the remote. He pressed play and they managed to get through the entire movie without anymore interruptions.

"That was an awesome movie," said Voldemort. "No wonder everyone has seen it."

"Sooooo," started Alexia looking at Tom. "What do you want to do next?"

"I dunno. Something that is traditionally done at sleepovers?"

"I got it!" said Quirrell with a smirk. He turned towards Voldemort and said, "You have to play too."

"What is it?" asked Voldemort looking nervous.

"Truth or Dare!"

"This'll be fun!" said Alexia. A few minutes later they were all sitting on the floor in a circle.

"Okay. We all know how to play, right?" asked Quirrell. Everyone (including Voldemort) nodded. "Good. I have a slight variation that will make this more interesting." He conjured a bottle and continued, "When it's your turn you'll spin this and whoever it points to you have to ask truth or dare. This way someone can't deliberately avoid asking a person or ask the same person every time."

"Since I'm the guest, I'll go first," said Tom. He spun the bottle and it pointed towards Alexia.

"Truth," she said.

"Um, what is your favorite hobby?" Tom knew questions and dares should be much more awkward or entertaining than that but he didn't want to take too long.

"I love drawing, learning magic, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. In fact, I have enough books and stuff upstairs that I could teach you guys and try running a campaign."

"Cool. Quirrell you're next."

Quirrell took the bottle and spun it. "Okay Voldemort, truth or dare?"

Voldemort grimaced and said, "I'll try a dare."

"I dare you to, um." Quirrell stared off into space for a minute thinking about what would be an interesting dare. Oh, that was mean. "You're gonna hate me for this one."

"I know," said Voldemort looking at the expression Quirrell had on his face.

Quirrell walked out into the kitchen and came back holding a largish ice cube. "I dare you to put this ice cube in the front your pants and leave it there until it melts."

"That's a classic," said Alexia.

"Ouchies," muttered Tom and Voldemort sighed and dropped the ice cube in.

"FIRETRUCK THIS IS FREEZING!" Voldemort screeched with wide eyes. "OW OW OWWWWW!" He turned to Quirrell and said, "You're gonna pay for that if I spin this and it points to you." He spun the bottle and it pointed to Tom.

"Truth."

"You're boring," said Voldemort as he shivered and winced trying to ignore the cold. "Um, what is the best dream you've ever had? Like, it was the most vivid or entertaining,"

"Oh boy," said Tom with wide eyes. "Well, there was this one dream I had about a month ago that was quite interesting. I was on my old school bus, in the front seat by the bus driver, and I started to ask him a question. When I looked at him, it turned out Neil Patrick Harris was driving the bus, and making waffles with a waffle iron that was sitting on the dashboard, and when he saw that I was giving him a weird look he was just like 'I love me some waffles' and I was like 'But you have to drive the bus' 'No it's a magical bus.'"

"What do you smoke before you go to bed?" asked Alexia "I want some!"

"Me too. I want Neil Patrick Harris dreams!" said Quirrell.

"Shush, there's more," said Tom. "So he said 'Here, let me show you' and the bus started to fly up into the clouds. And then we were attacked by a bunch of Care Bears."

"Maybe I DON'T want what you smoke," said Alexia.

"So then Neil changed into a mad scientist guy, pulled out a freeze ray and started zapping a bunch of Care Bears outside of his window. We fell back to Earth and Neil drove us to school, and when we got off at the school he was giving out waffles to everyone. I think it would've continued if my alarm clock hadn't gone off."

"Wow," said Voldemort. "I want waffles now."

"My turn!" Alexia spun the bottle and said, "Quirrell, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What would you do if you got changed into a girl?"

"Nothing would be that different," said Voldemort with a smirk. "Oh, the ice cube is gone!"

"Let's see, if I were a girl…" Quirrell closed his eyes to think, opened them and said, "I'd be straight, because I'd still be super attracted to guys. I'd wear skirts more often-" Everyone else openly stared to hear that he wore them as a male "- I'd wear make-up, or just general girly stuff that I can't really wear now. And, um," he turned to Voldemort and finished "I'd want to have your kids."

"You're sweet," said Voldemort with a loving smile.

"It's back to me now," said Tom taking the bottle and spinning it. "Voldemort?"

"I'm going to regret this. Dare."

"Ummmmmmm." Tom walked over to his backpack and started digging through it. Eventually he found his lunch bag and pulled out a peanut butter jelly sandwich. "I dare you to eat this."

"I hate you," growled Voldemort as Quirrell collapsed laughing on the floor.

"What's so bad about a peanut butter jelly sandwich?" asked Alexia.

"You don't wanna know," said Voldemort as he took the sandwich and ate it as fast as he could to get it over with. When he was done he stood up, bolted upstairs to the bathroom and threw up. Quirrell was laughing even harder and Alexia asked him what was with the sandwich.

"It was something that happened to him as a kid," said Quirrell once he could talk.

Voldemort came downstairs and said, "Ugh. Sandwiches are evil. Bad bad sandwich."

Quirrell spun the bottle next, and it pointed towards Alexia. "I'll take a truth," she said.

"Do you have a crush on anyone?"

"I used to have one on Tom, but since he's not interested in me I'm not attracted to him in that way anymore. We're just really good friends," she said and gave Tom a hug which he gladly returned.

Voldemort took the bottle and spun it. "Hey Quirrell," he said with a smirk. "Truth or Dare."

"Oh no. Dare."

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Voldemort. "Don't worry; it's nothing too bad, just maybe a bit awkward."

"Spit it out."

"We're going to make out for two minutes straight. I've been wanting to do it all night. Oh, and Quirrell, be polite and close your eyes. I don't want you staring at the clock behind me"

Quirrell smiled and said, "That doesn't sound too bad. Hey Tom, start a timer."

Tom pulled out his cell phone with a dazed look and set a timer. "It's set."

"Good." Voldemort pulled Quirrell close with one arm around Quirrell's waist and one on his neck. Quirrell smiled and leaned in with his eyes closed as they started kissing, somehow being passionate but comforting and loving at the same time.

Tom thought his heart was able to melt as he watched Quirrell and Voldemort. He sighed and concentrated on refraining from 'awwwing' again. Alexia smiled and felt thankful and happy that her parents loved each other this much. Yes, even though she was an orphan she now fully felt that Voldemort and Quirrell were her parents.

Three minutes later Voldemort broke apart from Quirrell and said, "Okay, that was waaaaaayy longer than two minutes. Did you even start the timer?"

"Huh?" Tom seemed to snap out of Narnian rainbow la la land and said, "Erm, oh, sorry. I was too distracted to start it."

"Oh well," said Quirrell. "I'm not complaining."

"Do you guys want to play something besides truth or dare?" asked Alexia with a yawn.

"I'll do whatever you want to do," said Voldemort. "I've never been to a sleepover before or had a party like this, but it's actually pretty fun."

"Ooooh, I have a great game," said Tom. "It'll be funny and awkward, just the sort of things you're supposed to play. It's a game called Bus Stop; it's sort of an acting game. You set up two chairs since we don't have a bench. One person sits in a chair and is trying to act normal. Another person comes up and tries to creep the other one out enough so they leave. Then the crazy person plays the normal person and someone else comes up. The only rules are that pants and shirt stay on."

"I'll be creeped out first," volunteered Quirrell. He pulled up two chairs and sat in one of them. "Okay Tom, creep me out."

Tom sat down next to him and said, "Hey, I had a dream about you last night."

"Oh really? What was it?"

"You died."

"I'm officially creeped," said Quirrell as he got up and left.

"My turn," said Voldemort walking up to tom. He sat down, looked at Tom, and Spocked an eyebrow. Tom hurriedly got up and left as Quirrell and Alexia cracked up.

Alexia made to get up but Alice hopped up onto her chair instead. Alice stared at Voldemort until he said, "Okay, I can't do this," and walked away. Alexia took Alice's chair as Alice hopped over to the normal person chair. No one else in the room really knew or wanted to know what was said but after a few minutes Alice hopped away and the staring contest ended with Alexia laughing.

"Okay guys, I'll be right back, I have an idea," said Quirrell running up to his room and shutting the door.

"Do you have a clue as to what he's doing?" asked Alexia looking at Voldemort.

"Nope, I have no idea."

A few minutes later Quirrell came downstairs, once Tom saw him he said, "Oh FUCK!" and hastily grabbed some tissues to soak up his bloody nose.

Quirrell was wearing a Hogwarts uniform, a Hogwarts GIRLS uniform. The jacket, dress shirt and Ravenclaw tie all looked normal, but the grey pleated skirt and knee socks stood out. The effect made him almost look like an anime school girl with short hair. He looked at their expressions and cracked up. "Oh my gosh, if you could see your faces! I'll tell you how I got this after we finish this game." Quirrell sat next to Alexia and she ran away as fast as she could.

"Okay Quirrell. Explain yourself," said Voldemort with wide eyes.

"It was late spring early summer in my third year, and it was burning hot outside. I was talking to Moaning Myrtle- Tom do you know who she is? Oh okay good- and I was complaining about how the boys had to wear long black pants even though it was hot out while the girls got to wear light skirts. She said that if I wore a skirt for a whole week at school she'd pay me ten galleons."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Voldemort. "How would she get ten galleons?"

"Well, if she saw someone she didn't like using the bathroom she would usually pick their pockets. She liked to wander around in other bathrooms than her own just to do that."

"Oh. I guess I wouldn't put it past her."

"Anyways, I wore a skirt for an entire week and found out it was much cooler and actually looked better. From then on I wore skirts when it was really hot out. I would've worn them all the time but the bullying wasn't worth it to do it all year round."

"Awww, poor thing," said Voldemort coming up to sit next to Quirrell.

"You guys are at a bus stop now," said Alexia.

Voldemort smirked and said, "Oh, I'm gonna have some fun with you." He edged closer to Quirrell and Quirrell laughed and scooted his chair away. They kept at that for a minute more until Tom said,

"Bus stops don't move!" Everyone was laughing now as Quirrell decided to walk away, saying that a magically moving bus stop might freak him out a bit.

"I'm sad now," said Voldemort with a frown. "You left me!"

Quirrell smiled and sat back down. "No I didn't."

"You are adorable wearing this," said Voldemort gesturing to Quirrell's skirt. "It's kind of weird, but still cute. Here I was thinking you shaving your legs was the strangest thing I've ever seen."

"Well, that started back when Myrtle dared me to wear this."

"Hey, um, just wondering, did people who didn't know you ever mistake you for a girl?" asked Tom. Normally he would've never dreamed of talking to a teacher like this, but he'd reached the point where there wasn't much he could say that'd be detention-worthy-awkward anymore.

"Yeah, a few people thought I was a girl. One time Professor Binns (he's an old ghost teacher) asked me if I was a new student when I walked in wearing this. Oh my gosh, and when Professor Dumbledore saw me in this walking down the hallway he fell over and dumped a huge pile of books onto a first year student. Scarfy took it the best; he said that I looked even more dashing and cute than usual."

"He was right," said Voldemort kissing Quirrell again. Tom had finally gotten his nosebleed to stop when it came back in full flow along with a string of muttered curse words under his breath as he reached for more Kleenex.

"I'll set up Tom's bedding," said Alexia.

"Nah, I got it," said Voldemort. With a flick of his wand the bedding Tom had used last time appeared on the couch and made itself up. "Goodnight you guys, get to bed soon." Voldemort and Quirrell walked up to their room and changed into pajamas.

Once they were cuddled up in bed together Voldemort said, "I love you."

"I love you too. You took the skirt thing better than I thought you would."

"What I said was true, you looked adorable."

Quirrell smiled and this time it was him who initiated the kiss (even Quirrell was surprised by the amount of that they'd been doing lately). "I never knew you could be so sweet and understanding, you really have changed a lot."

"I suppose I have," said Voldemort with a loud yawn. "I feel differently about everyone and everything, thanks to you. I don't even want to hurt Harry at all anymore; my feelings for him have done a 180 I guess." The two of them feel asleep facing and holding each other.


	13. Chapter 13

**I WILL BE GONE FOR 7 WEEKS STARTING TOMORROW. Just a little FYI. I'll be in Florida visiting my mom with pretty much no computer access. Please feel free to leave your reviews.**

**I feel kind of mean for writing a chapter like this right before I go, but I did it anyway XD Use brain bleach as required.**

**.-.-.-.**

It was a spring afternoon in Hogsmeade, the warm light of the sun shone down on Harry as he made his way into the bustling little village. He heard someone running behind him, he turned around and said with a warm smile, "Oh, hello Professor Riddle."

"Hello Harry," Riddle replied as he gave Harry a loving hug. "And really, while we're away from the castle you can call me Tom, okay?" He sighed and ruffled Harry's jet black hair, "It's so nice that you're seventeen now, has time flown for you?"

"You bet it has," said Harry. "It's hard to believe that we finally got the wizarding world to accept you as being really nice now just four years ago. Now you're the Defense Against the Dark arts teacher."

"I think you mean the devilishly handsome Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," corrected Tom, or Voldemort as he released Harry. "My good looks have come back."

It was true, whether he had used copious amounts of magic or his body had restored itself, Voldemort/Tom had a full head of gorgeous hair, a normal nose, and looked to be only in his early thirties. In fact, he looked exactly like his younger self at seventeen only a bit older looking.

Harry laughed and said, "True, you are amazing. I'm sad that this is my last year here at Hogwarts, we'll be spending too much time apart after I graduate."

"Well, while you're still here we can spend all the time we want together," said Tom. He reached around Harry and put his arm around his waist. "Where do you want to go? Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer?"

"Sure." Tom and Harry walked into the Three Broomsticks with Tom's arm still around Harry. As he opened the door the entire room fell silent. Even though Harry and Tom had been rumored to be together as a couple, they didn't come out with it until the beginning of the school year when Harry was 17. Somehow their mutual hate for one another had transformed into love.

Tom sat down and motioned or Harry to sit on his lap. Harry curled up on top of him, put his arms around Tom's neck, leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the mouth. Harry meant to end it, but Tom held him closer and deepened the kiss, not caring about everyone around them staring.

Right at that moment Headmistress McGonagall decided to walk by. "RIDDLE! You are a PROFESSOR!" she hissed at them.

Tom broke apart from Harry and said, "Yes, and he's of age, so go suck it."

McGonagall opened her mouth to argue but Tom cut her off, "Would you rather I was trying to kill him instead?" She glared at the two of them and stormed off.

"Free drinks for the cute couple!" announced Madam Rosemerta bringing Harry and Tom free butterbeer. Harry blushed as everyone in the pub started cheering for him and Tom.

They drank their drinks as quickly as possible, wanting to get out of there because of Harry's embarrassment. "There's nothing wrong with people being happy for us," said Tom leading Harry away from the bar.

"I guess not, it's just awkward for me. Even when I was with Ginny I didn't like being affectionate in public." They came to the edge of Hogsmeade near a grassy area with a few cherry trees in full bloom. "The cherry blossoms are beautiful," said Harry looking up at them.

"If you like that sort of thing," replied Tom.

"Oh, I forgot, your ex liked these, didn't he?"

"Well, it's fine if you like them, Harry; you're not a sissy loser like Quirrell."

Harry laughed and said, "I don't know why you would EVER want to be with Quirrell. He's girly, wimpy, boring and weak, how did you ever put up with him? Much less stay with him as a boyfriend."

"He had a house, and back then he made a convenient anchor for a piece of my soul so I could stay in this world. After I dumped him and quit using him as a house to stay in, I found you and we got the wizarding world to accept me."

"Did he cry?" asked Harry with a smirk. "I'll bet he did, such a cry baby."

"Of course he did, I think he might still cry these days too, even though it's been over four years now and he knows now that I never truly cared about him in the first place." Tom looked at the patch of thick grass they were standing in and up at the tall cherry tree they were below. "This spot is pretty private, would you mind continuing here?"

"Not at all." Harry laid down at the roots of the tree admiring the beautiful petals above him. Tom soon follow suit and curled up beside Harry embracing him.

"I love you," Tom murmured softly to Harry as he closed his eyes and brought their mouths together. Harry closed his eyes and melted into the kiss, savoring the flavor of Tom's mouth and the warmth where their chests touched. Tom slipped his hand under Harry's robe and shirt, gently rubbing Harry's chest and making him moan into their kiss.

"You like that, huh?" asked Tom taking a short break. Harry nodded and Tom rolled them over a bit so Harry was on his back with Tom on top of him. They started kissing again and Tom continued to explore Harry under his shirt. After awhile he took it out of Harry's shirt and placed it on his pants zipper.

"Not now," said Harry breaking the kiss.

"Okay. I booked us a room for later, I hope you're okay with that."

Harry sat up and said, "That sounds awesome."

"We'll finally be together in every way," said Tom with a smile. "We're practically married already or as close as one can be without being physically intimate yet."

"Yeah. I have to warn you, I'm pretty clueless. But then again, I guess you've only ever done it with Bellatrix-"

"No. I did it with Quirrell too."

"EW. I'm sorry."

"Well, I thought I'd be stuck with him for the rest of my life, so I decided to make the most out of it. Bellatrix was much better in bed than he was; I seriously started missing her back then."

"Ugh, even I might if I was with Quirrell."

Tom sat up next to Harry and said, "Well, the past is over with, thankfully. And I got you something. Two somethings, in fact."

Harry blushed and said guiltily, "Oh no, I didn't get you anything."

"It's okay," Tom soothed. "You don't get out of the castle very much, and I enjoy planning our time together."

"I'm definitely the girl in this relationship," said Harry with a smile as he snuggled up to Tom.

"Yes you are." Tom dug inside of his robes and pulled out a bouquet of red roses with heart-shaped blossoms. "This is super cheesy, but they're nice anyway. When I got them they looked just fine and then they kind of got all heart shaped. I think Professor Sprout doesn't like me too much."

Harry laughed, took the roses and said, "Flowers are flowers. Thank you."

Tom pulled Harry up and said, "Okay, now we're going to Honeydukes, and you can pick out whatever you want."

"You spoil me rotten."

"I know." They arrived in front of Honeydukes and walked inside without anyone really noticing since the store was so busy. Harry picked out an assortment of chocolate and other treats while Tom held him from behind.

Harry carried the bag of chocolate outside and said, "Thanks so much. You're sweet, like sugar. Or whatever the hell they put in this candy."

Tom cracked up and said, "Yeah, I kind of doubt sugar's the only sweetener they use. So, what do you want to do next?"

"I'm hungry."

"Then let's get some dinner." Tom led Harry over to a small but fancy restaurant. Once inside they were seated at a table and ordered, neither of them paying much attention to what they were getting because there were so distracted in the other's presence.

"It's nice here," said Harry looking at the lit candles on their table.

"What's even better is being here with you," said Tom with a loving smile at Harry. Harry blushed a little and reached for Tom's hand under the table. Tom took it and brought it to the top of the table.

The waitress came over with their food and they both ate still not paying attention to what they had. They both finished at about the same time, Tom looked at Harry and asked, "Do you want any dessert?"

"Um, I dunno. What're you getting?"

"I figured a piece of chocolate cake for us to share would do."

"How are you so perfect?"

"It's a thing I do." Tom smiled and ordered the cake. Once it came he fed Harry and himself the cake bit by bit until it was gone.

"I think it's time we went to bed," said Harry starting to feel his attraction for Tom rise due to the chocolate.

"Me too." Tom and Harry practically ran out and found where Tom had booked a room. Harry walked in and observed in the back of his mind that it wasn't anything classy but didn't care seeing as all that mattered was that it gave them a bed and some privacy.

Harry took his robe off and laid down waiting for Tom to come over to him. Tom took of his robe and shirt before lying on top of Harry and making out with him more passionately than ever.

Tom quickly stripped Harry of his shirt and tossed it carelessly to the floor. He reached his hands down to Harry's pants zipper and started to unzip them-

'"YOU CHEATING, MUGGLE FUCKING BASTARD!" screamed Quirrell. Voldemort woke up with a start as Quirrell slammed his foot up into a very sensitive area of Voldemort's anatomy.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!" Voldemort shrieked wishing him and Quirrell hadn't fallen asleep facing each other. "Quirrell, what the hell was that for?"

"Like you don't know!" Quirrell sat up and yelled, "I DON'T MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU! YOU'D RATHER BE WITH BELLATRIX! YOUR LIFE WOULD BE INFINITELY BETTER WITHOUT ME!"

"Quirrell, what on Earth are you talking about?" asked Voldemort wishing he had the ice cube back from earlier. "I've never said or thought that, I love you."

Alexia walked in with a heavy nosebleed and said, "What's up? Who had the hot dream with Voldemort and Harry making out and almost having sex?"

"WHAT?" Voldemort turned towards Quirrell and asked, "You had a nightmare I cheated on you with Harry? Eurgh, that's nasty."

Quirrell was starting to cry and said, "Yes. Alexia, is that a nosebleed?"

"Yeah, at the end-"

"YOU'RE GROUNDED." Quirrell turned back to Voldemort and said, "It all seems so real, you and Harry were in Hogsmeade doing romantic things, eating chocolate, kissing, you dumped me because I'm a pathetic, sissy loser." Now Quirrell was howling with misery and crying.

"Oh my God Quirrell, I'd never dump you, I love you." Voldemort tried to hold Quirrell but got pushed away. Alexia decided they needed to be alone and left the room.

"But it's true, isn't it?" asked Quirrell. "I'm a sissy, I'm pathetic and boring, and you'd want to be with Bellatrix or Harry more than me."

"No Quirrell, it isn't." Voldemort sighed and tried to put his arm around Quirrell again but got rejected. "You're not pathetic or boring, you're fun to be around, and you're my best friend. No, you're more than my best friend, you're my soul mate. I wake up every morning feeling happy that I get to be with you; I'd never hurt you or ditch you."

"But you'd rather have Bellatrix than me I'll bet."

"No Quirrell, I want you and only you," said Voldemort "I didn't love Bellatrix at all, you're really the only person I love, and I'd never leave you. Please, believe me, I hate seeing you hurt."

"But she was better in bed, wasn't she?"

Voldemort widened his eyes and said, "No, actually. You're fantastic."

Quirrell blew his nose and wiped his eyes. "What if someone better than me comes along? Would you go for them?"

"No Quirrell, I wouldn't. Because there's no one better than you out there. I love every part of you."

"Even though I'm a girly, sissy, weakling?"

"I think you being girly is adorable." Voldemort crawled over to Quirrell and was allowed to cuddle with him. "I love you more than anything, never doubt that." Voldemort kissed Quirrell for only a few seconds and pulled away saying, "Come one, you need chocolate."

"NO. There was way too much chocolate in that dream for me to ever want it again."

"You'll feel better."

"NO MEANS NO."

Voldemort sighed and pulled out the bag of chocolate anyway. "You sure?"

"Yes," said Quirrell closing his eyes and laying down.

The next thing Quirrell knew Voldemort was lying on top of him and he was pinned down beneath him. Voldemort kissed Quirrell and soon deepened it. Quirrell laid there enjoying the feeling until he tasted the chocolate Voldemort had in his mouth. At first Quirrell tried to kick him away but he was trapped. After awhile he began to enjoy it and kissed back with a burst of energy, wrapping his legs around Voldemort's waist and rolled them so they were on their sides and could kiss slightly better.

Tom chose that moment to walk in and tiredly say, "I heard something earlier about someone wanting to fuck a muggle. I'm right here." Then he saw Voldemort and Quirrell passionately making out and sneezed some blood "Oh God damn it," he muttered and walked into Alexia who had gone off to take care of her own nosebleed. She took one look at him and cracked up.

"I'll get you some tissue and maybe a blood replenishing potion, you must feel awfully light-headed, that's your third nosebleed tonight."

"Yeah," said Tom as he followed her downstairs and grabbed some tissues on the way.

When Quirrell was sure Voldemort didn't have any chocolate left in his mouth he broke them apart and said, "Wow, you should do that more often. The aphrodisiac properties of that chocolate seem to affect me more than normal when I get it from your mouth."

"I'll remember that," replied Voldemort with a smirk. He pulled back the covers and helped Quirrell crawl back in.

"I'm sorry about kicking you earlier," said Quirrell as he wrapped his arms around Voldemort.

"Well, when I read your mind and saw that dream the dream-me deserved it. And I figured you were sorry, I'm pretty sure you don't want anything I have down there damaged."

"Yeah, I don't." Quirrell sighed and kissed Voldemort again. "I feel much better, thank you."

"I never knew you were so insecure."

"I'm not; it's just that after Azkaban I have a really bad fear of losing you or of you hating me. All the time I was in prison I kept thinking that you really did hate me and only wanted to use me and throw me out."

"Well, are you convinced that I'm deeply in love with you?"

"Yes."

Downstairs Alexia gave Tom the appropriate amount of potion and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. I wish I didn't get nosebleeds like that. Once I get one they just keep coming." Alexia smiled and could sense his emotions.

"Did you have a nightmare earlier?"

"Yeah, just a little one," lied Tom.

"Would you like to sleep upstairs with me so you have someone in the same room as you?"

"Sure," he said with relief. He followed Alexia upstairs to her bedroom and they both crawled in under the covers like they were sisters, or girls at a sleepover. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Imagine how happy Voldemort will be to find out we slept in the same room."

"Oh boy."


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, I flew home a week early, so here's part 14! Please review/enjoy. And yeah, there are some f-bombs in here and moderately perverted jokes.**

In the morning Quirrell woke up to find himself facing Voldemort and feeling more refreshed than usual. The previous night some of his most haunting fears had diminished. He felt bad about kicking Voldemort when we had woken up, but at least Voldemort forgave him for it.

Voldemort started to stir as well and opened his eyes to find Quirrell sitting up and starting to get dressed. "Hey you," he said in a soft, gentle voice. "Where're ya goin'?"

"I'm going to check on the kids."

"They can wait," replied Voldemort as he tossed the shirt Quirrell was changing into away and pulled Quirrell close to him, making Quirrell lay back down. "How are you feeling?"

"Great." Quirrell yawned and asked, "How are you feeling? You're the one who got kicked."

"I'm just fine. You're the one who keeps having nightmares."

"I'm feeling much better, talking through it last night helped a lot, I don't think I'll be having as many if any at all."

"Don't pretend that my chocolate CPR didn't have anything to do with it," said Voldemort with a smirk.

Quirrell smiled and replied, "That was pretty smooth." He sighed and said, "I really should go and see if Tom or Alexia are up."

"Get your shirt on while I go and check on Alexia."

"You get YOUR shirt on!" laughed Quirrell as he threw a shirt at Voldemort. Voldemort reluctantly pulled a black t-shirt over his head and walked out the door to Alexia's room. He opened the door and almost had a heart attack.

Tom and Alexia were sleeping in the same room. In the same bed even. And to erase anything Quirrell could've said about it being perfectly innocent they were holding each other close in each other's arms. Voldemort opened his mouth to start hollering at the two of them when Quirrell clamped a hand over Voldemort's mouth and pointed to the couch downstairs so they could talk and not wake Tom and Alexia. Voldemort rolled his eyes and closed the door to Alexia's room so he wouldn't wake them until he wanted to let them know how deep of trouble they were in.

Voldemort sunk into the couch in the living room with a glare at Quirrell and growled, "What excuse do you have for them? They're in the same bed holding each other for Slytherin's sake!"

"Tom's gay-"

"But they're holding each other! He must be bi or something. And it PISSES ME OFF," hissed Voldemort.

"I have an explanation- let me finish-," said Quirrell as Voldemort tried to interrupt again. "This doesn't mean that he's bi or that they're romantically or sexually interested in each other. I don't think they are. I've never been wrong about someone's orientation before, I'm sure Tom isn't remotely interested in her. It could be something like one of them had a nightmare and stayed around to hold the other, or they just wanted the comfort of each other's arms, which does NOT mean there's anything going on that you should be concerned about."

Voldemort widened his eyes and snapped, "'Comfort of each other's arms?' What crack are you smoking! Like there's nothing going on there AT ALL? How are you so sure Tom's gay? Especially after this."

"Because I know what it's like to be alone and crave the feeling of someone else to hold you and comfort you," replied Quirrell with a sad, distant look in his eyes. "I remember when I was little, going to Hogwarts, how I'd spend night after night in Myrtle's bathroom and let her cuddle with me in my sleeping bag. Yeah, we didn't have anything romantically going on, but we were best friends who just wanted comfort from the other person. Alexia has had very little love or affection in her life, I'd imagine that she'd be trying to cuddle with anyone she made friends with who'd let her."

"That's insane, but has potential seeing as this is Alexia we're talking about. I have a way to find out for sure though."

"Oh no, don't read her mind, you already do that enough in the Occlumency lessons! The poor kid needs her space."

"I'm not going to read her mind, Quirrell. I'm going to use an Extendable Ear to hear what they say to each other when they wake up, want one?"

Alexia awakened to find Tom in her arms and feeling happier than she'd felt for a long time. Finally a she had friend who fully accepted her for what she was and one that would hold her and be there for her. Alexia gently scratched Tom's back to wake him up and started mentally talking at Alice, who was curled up on the pillow Tom and she had shared.

The Extendable Ears Voldemort and Quirrell had reached Alexia's bedroom door in time to hear Tom say in his sleep (with his words slightly slurred making him sounds drunk), "I wanna have your adopted popsicles… with the vanilla in the center. Those are the best…"

"Tom!" whispered Alexia with restrained laughter, "Come one, wake up! I don't want Voldy or Quirrell to hear you."

Downstairs Voldemort had a look of shock as Alexia said 'Voldy'. Quirrell didn't notice because he was chuckling at Tom's sleep talking.

"You don't understand. I looooooove popsicles. I need them to survive. They're like my own personal brand of crack. Especially the pink ones with vanilla centers. Yuuuummy. "

Alexia couldn't take it anymore and started laughing so hard that Tom woke up and asked tiredly, "Are there some Otter Pops or something in this house? I have a strange craving for-"

"Popsicles?"

"Oh no. I was talking in my sleep?" Tom looked absolutely mortified at the idea that she'd heard what his dreams were about, which made her wonder what else he had dreamt about in the night. She probably didn't want to know.

"You were a little, but just about wanting a popsicle."

Quirrell looked at Voldemort with a 'how gay is that?' expression. Voldemort shrugged and kept listening.

"Oh. Well, it could've been worse." Tom sat up, stretched, and pet Alice, who wasn't very fast in the morning. "I still can't believe how adorable and smart Alice is."

Alice slowly opened her eyes and asked Alexia, '_What time is it?'_

Alexia looked at the clock and said out loud, "It's about 9 AM."

'_I'm hungry.'_ said Alice.

"We'll go down in a little while, you'll live," replied Alexia. Alice glared at Alexia and hopped off the bed to wait by the door. "Drama queen," muttered Alexia. The bunny was about to start pawing at the door when she noticed the Extendable Ears and hopped over to them.

Back at the wizard ranch Voldemort and Quirrell listened open mouthed to what they heard next.

First they heard Alice's thumps as she hopped around on the floor, and then they heard:

"Well, I'm sure glad we found out that you're bi last night," said Alexia.

"Yeah, I never knew kissing and cuddling with a girl would feel so nice. Too bad we'll have to wait until we're older to do more."

"Well, we should, doesn't mean we have to."

Voldemort nearly bolted up from the couch to probably kill Tom and hit Alexia around for even talking about having sex with a boy but Quirell pinned him down as he heard Tom reply.

"Fine then, we can wait a year or two. That's still pretty early, but with attraction like ours, that's gonna be like hell."

"I know. At least we can still be affectionate though." There was a pause followed by Alexia saying "I love you."

"I love you too." Then sounds that sounded like they might be kissing followed. Neither Voldemort nor Quirrell could be sure if they actually were until Tom commented about how soft Alexia's lips were.

"Wow," Tom murmured. "Your hair is so soft, and it smells like fruit. I like it."

"You're not too bad yourself, cutie. Take your shirt off though, that'll make everything better." There was a slight rustling of fabric that was Tom tossing his shirt on the floor. They then resumed kissing and now heard them both moan a little.

Both Voldemort and Quirrell had heard enough and simultaneously charged upstairs, flung open Alexia's door and found Alice sitting by the door by the Extendable Ears, Alexia digging around in her dresser for an outfit for the day, and Tom was on the opposite end of the room making her bed.

Meanwhile, Voldemort and Quirrell could still hear Tom and Alexia making out through their Extendable Ears. Voldemort stared at the two of them and said aloud, "What the FUCK?"

What Alexia and Tom had actually been doing/saying:

"I hope we don't get in too much trouble for me sleeping up here," said Tom. "Thank you for letting me sleep next to you anyway, I had a really bad nightmare, I needed to be with someone."

"You're welcome, I needed someone too," replied Alexia with a smile. "Just having someone to hold is nice, even though there's nothing else going on."

"Yeah. I really like it here." Tom looked down at his lap and asked, "Is it okay if I tell something to you that I haven't told anyone else at school?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, part of the reason why I like being here is, um, well, of course because you're my friend, but also because I feel pretty welcome around here. More welcome than I am at home with my parents and brother and sister."

"Oh no, what's wrong?" asked Alexia with concern as she sat up next to Tom.

"Well, um, first of all, my parents don't get along. They fight a lot, and are never affectionate. I mean, NEVER. It's depressing; I keep expecting a divorce any day now." Alexia frowned and gently rubbed Tom's back since he looked like he might break down crying.

"There's more though," he continued. "I decided that I needed to tell someone about me being gay. (I've known for about one year now.) Well, I didn't come all the way out, but I said I was bi. It set them off really bad; I thought I'd be kicked out of the house or whipped with a belt or something for even admitting it." Tom actually started crying and Alexia took him in her arms to let him sob on her shoulder.

"What happened?" asked Alexia wanting to keep him going.

"I got a huge lecture from both of them, everything from I was a embarrassment to the family, to that all gays did was spread STDs, to that I HAD to be with a girl or else I'd be kicked out if I ever got a boyfriend and would be disinherited. It was horrible. So now the only reason why I'm allowed over here is because they think I'm going out with you. They'd prefer me getting you pregnant (which of course I would NEVER do) to me having a boyfriend."

"Oh my gosh," said Alexia holding him even closer.

"And there's also, um, Voldy and Quirrell. I like seeing them be affectionate and loving, it's cute, and it's a breath of fresh air from my own home. Even if I do have a hard time being around Quirrell."

"Yeah, that's always awkward; I can tell when you do."

Tom widened his eyes and said, "Oh, no, I meant difficult, not like that-"

"But it's true," Alexia said with a smirk.

Tom sighed and replied, "Yeah, it's true." He sighed and crawled off of Alexia's lap to grab a tissue (for once it wasn't for a nosebleed).

Alexia walked over to her dresser to find clean clothes and tom decided to be nice and start making her bed after he dried his eyes and threw his tissue away. At that moment Voldemort and Quirrell burst into the room. Voldemort took one look at them and exclaimed, "What the FUCK?"

"What?" asked Alexia as she shut the drawers on her dresser. Tom turned around from making her bed and stared at Voldemort and Quirrell with dry but bloodshot eyes.

"You… what were you two doing up here?" asked Voldemort

Tom sniffled and noticed that he couldn't really hide that he'd been crying less than a minute ago. "There was some crying on my part, some hugging, some speaking, and apparently I um, talked in my sleep. What're those thingys you guys have next to your ears?"

"Extendable Ears," replied Quirrell. "We can hear from the other end of them, which lead right to this room. We heard/are hearing something way different than what's going on."

Alexia looked and saw that the Ears led right to Alice. "And Alice was being a little BITCH."

'_Teeheehee.' _said Alice, stopping her fake Alexia and Tom scenario. _'That was fun.'_

"Alice, what did you do?" snapped Alexia. "Voldemort looked like he was about to kill something."

Quirrell put the piece together and said, "Alice can talk with her mind, so she can sound like whatever she likes, and apparently the Ears pick up her 'voice'. We were hearing you two, ah, kissing and talking about some very interesting things you were planning to do when you were older."

Tom had an 'ewwwwww' expression while Alexia looked like she'd love to drop-kick Alice out the window.

"ALICE! You almost got us into huge trouble you-"

"Oh come on, she was just having fun," cut in Tom to everyone's surprise.

"YOU'RE DEFENDING HER? SHE ALMOST-"

Tom bent down, picked Alice up, and held her out to Alexia, "How can you stay angry at a cute little thing like this?" Alice even widened her eyes and did her best to look apologetic and sad.

Alexia sighed, rolled her eyes and said, "Okay Alice, you're forgiven."

'_Thanks.'_ Tom took Alice back and started nuzzling her soft fur while cooing in Alice's ear how adorable she was.

Voldemort had calmed down enough to talk without shouting at anyone and noticed that someone was missing, "Hey guys, where's Belinda?"

"She's probably in the warmest place in the house," replied Quirrell.

"So where would that be, by the fireplace?" asked Voldemort. (Tom had instinctively checked his pants, and everybody else had noticed.)

"Yeah, sure, fireplace," said Tom blushing a brilliant shade of red close to a tomato color. Alexia fell onto her bed laughing while Tom hurried out of the room. As he passed Quirrell he gave Tom a knowing smirk making him run down the stairs even faster. Even Voldemort smiled at Tom as he went into the living room.

"Poor kid," he muttered looking at Quirrell. "He has the hugest crush on you and can't do a thing about it. Not that I blame him, but it would still suck to be him." Voldemort gave Quirrell a short kiss and headed to the living room to find Tom sitting on the couch holding Belinda and apparently trying to convince her that she didn't want to hang out under his clothes. It looked like a losing argument to Voldemort.

"Hey Belinda, leave Tom alone," Belinda slithered over to Voldemort and slipped under his shirt instead of Tom's. "So Tom, how're you feeling?"

"Um, really awkward, warm, well rested, happy to be here, and really relieved that the snake isn't in my pants," he finished.

Voldemort laughed and replied, "Yeah, Belinda hanging out in anyone's pants is bad times. Anyways, Tom we all know you're gay and have a crush on Quirrell. It's okay, you can relax around here, and we accept that. And the more natural you act the less awkward you'll feel."

Tom nodded and then asked, "Um, is it okay if I tell you what I told Alexia?"

"Sure."

"Can I curl up on your lap as I try not to cry because it's depressing?" Quirrell and Alexia walked downstairs to see Voldemort raise his eyebrows and nod as Tom crawled on top of Voldemort's lap (Belinda slithered unnoticed out of Voldemort's shirt to under Tom's shirt hissing about how Voldemort's body temperature was always a few degrees cooler than normal).

Quirrell and Voldemort listened to Tom as he told them about his family/situation at home. In the end he ended up crying on Voldemort's shoulder. Voldemort wasn't entirely sure what to do, so he hugged Tom and patted his back. "Um, there, there." He thought for a minute and said, "There" again just for good measure.

"That's horrible," said Quirrell with a frown. "Just so you know, you're allowed over here anytime you want or need to be here."

"THANK YOU!" howled Tom. "Also, I have more bad news." He got off Voldemort's lap and started nervously petting Alice. "I think my parents want to meet you, Alexia. Since they think we're dating. So you might end up having to go over there for a sleepover."

"Bring your wand," said Voldemort.

"You're letting me go over?" asked Alexia with surprise.

"Yes. Since we all know for sure that Tom is 120 percent gay."

"Wow, this'll be interesting," said Tom. "We'll be each other's beards."

"Beards?" asked Voldemort.

"It's when two gays go out together to seem straight to everyone else to cover up the fact that they're gay," said Quirrell. "It'll probably work too; you guys could do it at school as well."

"That sounds great," said Tom enthusiastically. "There are rumors going around about us anyway, and this way maybe I can shake off some of those creepy stalker girls who follow me around the school trying to hook up with me."

Voldemort got up and magicked some breakfast together, not really paying attention to what he was doing and was done in less than a minute. "Uh, breakfast is ready guys!" he called out. Alice hopped into the kitchen and started pawing at the refrigerator. He rolled his eyes and got out her breakfast of lettuce, carrot, celery, and grapes.

Quirrell sat down and stared at the muddy green, thick, gruel. "Um, what is this? And why could you conjure it with your wand? You aren't supposed to be able to produce food with magic."

Voldemort stared at the soup like he just noticed what he put on the table, "This is the soup the cook used to make back at the orphanage. And I'm not sure that it qualifies as food."

Tom bravely tried a spoonful and said with delight, "Wow, this is delicious! Try some."

Quirrell tried some next and said, "It actually is pretty good. I wonder what it is. I can't taste anything familiar in here."

"It's great!" announced Alexia taking a bite of hers as well.

Voldemort stared at all of them and said, "You guys actually like it? It tastes and looks to me like a cauldron of broccoli cheese soup got drunk and decided to have sex with a bowl of cream of wheat."

Quirrell snorted some soup out of his nose and choked. "What are you, nuts? It tastes like garlic soup, it's awesome."

"I think it's just really dark key lime pie filling," commented Alexia.

"It tastes like green," said Tom. "I never knew my favorite color could taste so good."

"WHAT?" Voldemort pointed to Alexia and Quirrell and asked, "Wait a minute, how can you taste garlic and you taste key lime pie? And I don't even know what the hell green tastes like."

"Maybe," started Tom. "It tastes like whatever you think it is, or want it to be." He looked at his bowl and said, "I'm gonna pretend this is avocado." He took a bite and grimaced. "That, is absolutely and disgustingly guacamole."

"That's absurd," replied Voldemort.

"Well, maybe you conjured it up," said Quirrell "And it didn't qualify as food, but then something happened and now it tastes like whatever we either think it is or want it to taste like."

"Weird."

"I know," replied Quirrell. "But I've seen people conjure sauce or gravy or stuff from their wand. Like this one time, back when Flitwick taught cooking in charms class seeing as most wizard cooking is done by using charms, had some thick, white, creamy alfredo sauce coming out of his wand-"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" Tom was pulling Kleenex after Kleenex after the box near the table and bringing them up to his nose. "Always with the wands," he muttered.

"Need another blood replenishing potion?" asked Alexia. "That's your fourth here."

Tom sighed and followed her to the dungeon again.

**Review please! :D **

**I loved messing with you people. It's so much fun. And I always imagined that if there was a Home-Ec class at Hogwarts it'd be taught in charms, seeing as most cooking/household spells seem to be charms.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yeah, it's been awhile, sorry, school caught up with me. Anyway, here it is, enjoy!**

Quirrell stared after Tom and Alexia as they left to go and get Tom a blood replenishing potion. "Wow, I'm kind if impressed at how easily Tom is set off for him only being eleven," said Quirrell.

"Well, he has you at the table," pointed out Voldemort with a smile. He got up and said, "I'm going to go and start cleaning our room, I noticed a bunch of clutter up there."

Quirrell rolled his eyes and replied, "You think me leaving a couple of books out is cluttering up our room."

"You love me anyways."

"Yes I do." Quirrell got up and started on the dishes while Voldemort walked upstairs to deal with their room.

In the dungeon Tom gulped down a blood replenishing potion and asked, "Why do these potions taste like garlic?"

"I dunno," replied Alexia. "Wait, I think I might. Maybe it's to keep vampires away. Like, if they've been drinking any of your blood they'll leave you alone."

"Maybe." He shuddered and said, "I'm going to get some water upstairs and then get any of my stuff out of your room. Like my back pack."

"Sure." Tom headed upstairs to the kitchen and drained a few glasses of water in an attempt to get the strong garlic taste out of his mouth. Tom blushed a little when Quirrell gave him a warm smile as he did the dishes and decided he'd better leave the kitchen soon. Tom sheepishly grinned back and headed up to Alexia's room.

Once up the stairs Tom saw Voldemort carrying an armful of vanilla candles out of him and Quirrell's bedroom. Not putting two and two together Tom walked up to Voldemort and asked, "What were the candles for in your guy's bedroom? Some sort of magic ritual?"

"Ummmmmm." Voldemort wasn't sure how to reply and not outright say why they had been there. "I guess you could say that."

"Really? That's so cool! What kind of ritual?"

Voldemort couldn't see a way out of it and decided to break it to him. "Mating."

"Ma- OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY!" Tom buried his face into his hands and ran into Alexia's room shutting the door behind him. Voldemort walked down to help Quirrell finish the dishes and instead started thinking about the most recent awkward Tom moment ended up laughing so hard he had to lean against the refrigerator to keep from collapsing on the floor.

Alexia came up to her room a few minutes later and found Tom lying down on her bed facedown with his head in a pillow. "What's up?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

"I think I should go home soon for my own good," Tom said as he sat up and adjusted her pillow. "I keep doing really awkward things."

"Oh, it's fine, we all know you like Quirrell-"

"No, I just asked Voldemort what the candles in his and Quirrell's room had been for."

Alexia smiled and said, "It could've been worse." She felt the need to change the subject and asked, "So, when do you think I'll be coming over?"

"Probably after the parent-teacher-student conferences next week," replied Tom. "You guys might even meet my family then if we get the same day. If you do, make sure to act sort of affectionate around me, my mom and dad are used to my sister, so they probably won't buy it unless we're showing enough PDA to be high schoolers."

"Oh joy." Alexia yawned and said, "Do you want to go home?"

"Yeah, I'll need to take care of my dog when I get home. It's the family dog, but I'm usually the one who takes her out on walks and stuff."

"Awww, I love dogs. What kind is she?"

"She's a black and white border collie named Nova. She loves playing in the yard with the Frisbee, and she likes playing tag."

"I can't wait to come over; we could always go outside if your parents start bugging us."

"Yeah." Tom stood up and said, "I should get going. I had a great time." Alexia gave him a hug goodbye as he left. Quirrell drove Tom home again seeing as Voldemort couldn't drive and didn't know where he lived anyways.

Alexia came down into the kitchen to find Voldemort completely winded from laughing and drinking some water. "What's up?"

"I'm still trying to get over Tom asking me about those candles."

"Well, I guess he was tired. And he might've been trying to get over your magic food."

"I don't think I could ever pull that off again, it was just my wand misbehaving." Voldemort looked around and asked, "Where's Belinda?"

"Under Tom's clothing?"

"Probably," sighed Voldemort. "That snake is almost as creepy as Moaning Myrtle, or Scarfy. She doesn't even do it on purpose; she just wants to be warm."

When Quirrell got home he pulled out Belinda from under his shirt and said, "Okay, she's been in Voldemort's pants and in many other people's shirts; she needs a bath."

"Can Belinda even swim?" asked Alexia.

'_I'm a grassss sssssnake, of courssse I can sssswim.'_

"Yep," said Quirrell. "I'll fill the kitchen sink with some hot water."

'_Sssssoundssssss great.'_

ONE WEEK LATER:

Quirrell yawned and gave Voldemort a hug, "Everything's going to be fine, you're only going to these conferences for one night."

"To interview a bunch if stupid muggles and talk about Alexia's studies at muggle school, it's such a waste of time!" Voldemort sighed and said, "So, who are her teachers and what should I be prepared to do?"

"She has math first period with a guy named Herman-"

"Who happens to be a homophobic dickwad," said Alexia as she walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water.

"Ooooooh, he's gonna get it," growled Voldemort. He turned to Quirrell and asked, "Has he been giving you any trouble?"

"Uh, not really." Voldemort raised his eyebrow and Quirrell said, "Okay fine, he's been giving me a little bit, but it'll be fine. Could you do me a favor when we leave?"

"What?"

"Don't wear all black; you look like a creeper when you do."

"And what's wrong with scaring the muggles?"

"I know you like to look intimidating, but I really want people to have a better impression of you."

"Okay, so I can't wear an all black outfit." Voldemort paused and got a look of dawning comprehension on his face that gave Quirrell shivers down his spine. "You said someone was a homophobe?"

"Yeah, a few of them are."

"Be right back." Voldemort ran up into him and Quirrell's room as Alexia and Quirrell stared after him wondering what on earth he was up to.

A few minutes later Voldemort came back downstairs and Quirrell thought he might pass out.

Voldemort was wearing his pink High School Musical hat with Zac Efron in a heart on it, a white High School Musical t-shirt, a purple Justin Beiber style hoodie, dark blue skinny jeans, a gem-stone like rainbow belt, sneakers, rainbow bracelets on each arm and a pastel rainbow tie around his neck.

"OH. MY. GOD." Quirrell let out a squeal and ran up and kissed Voldemort on the mouth and said after the kiss, "Rainbows, skinny jeans, tie, pink hat, hoodie, YOU ARE PERFECT."

Voldemort laughed and ruffled Quirrell's hair, "I hoped you wouldn't mind me borrowing your rainbow stuff, I thought I'd freak a few people out with the rainbow effect going on."

"And look drop dead gorgeous and CUTE AND HOT." Quirrell pushed Voldemort against the wall and continued kissing a very surprised but pleased Voldemort.

Alexia rolled her eyes and muttered "Newlyweds."

Voldemort broke apart from Quirrell and blurted out, "WHAT?"

"I called you guys newlyweds. And it's true, you act just like them. So much in fact that I'm going to set my bed up downstairs since you guys are going to whip it up tonight."

Quirrell blushed and said, "Well Voldy, with you in those skinny jeans you're awfully hard to resist."

"Just as planned." Quirrell smiled as he kissed Voldemort again and enjoyed how close he could be to his soul mate. Alexia went downstairs to set up her bed and found them still kissing when she came back up.

She walked up to them, stood on her tiptoes and yelled "HEY!" in Voldemort's ear to break them apart. Voldemort jumped and then rolled his eyes.

"We'll continue this later Quirrell."

"Ooooh yeah."

Upon their arrival at the school, Quirrell got out of the car and was about to dash off when Voldemort pulled him back and said, "No Quirrell, we're going in together." Quirrell smiled and took Voldemort's hand and let them into the building.

There were many families and a few teachers loitering about in the lobby, but everyone turned and stared at Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia when they walked in thanks to Voldemort's rather flamboyant outfit. To make even more of a scene, Voldemort took Quirrell's hand and kissed it as Quirrell blushed and giggled. Quirrell took his hand back and then nuzzled his nose up against Voldemort's, trying to be affectionate but not overdoing it. Voldemort nuzzled Quirrell back as people all around them either 'awwed' or 'ewwed'. Quirrell then jogged off to his classroom to interview parents while Voldemort and Alexia walked off to her first period class with Herman.

The moment Voldemort and Alexia set foot in Herman's math classroom Herman turned towards them and gagged. Voldemort smiled, enjoying every second of it, and walked up to Herman and said, "Hello, my name is Joe Rosenburg, I'm one of Alexia's guardians and I've come to talk to you about her performance in this class." Before Herman could recover from his shock or say anything Voldemort actually kissed Herman once on each cheek and said, "There we are, that's how people greet each other these days is it not?"

Herman started to stutter and Voldemort tried to look concerned, "Oh no, you're not homophobic are you?"

Herman, not wanting to offend Voldemort who still managed to be imposing while looking as gay as the Fourth of July replied with "No, no, I'm not homophobic, it's just that whenever I see rainbows I start retching."

"Oh, that's too bad, I think they're pretty." Voldemort and Alexia sat down in chairs facing Herman's desk as Herman sat down as well. Alexia smirked at Herman as the interview started and he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. "So, what do you think of Alexia?"

"She's, ah, well." Herman spluttered trying to find a way to express how he felt about Alexia and not tick "Joe" off too much. "I find that she has trouble controlling herself and paying attention in class."

"Really?" Voldemort looked surprised and replied, "And yet she has an A, perhaps you should respect her a bit more? I'm sure it's not easy to get an A in a class you're absent from most of the time." (In truth Quirrell could help her whenever she had issues with her homework but he wouldn't let Herman think that.)

"I suppose she's smart," growled Herman. "But that doesn't erase all of her behavior problems."

"Well, think about it, he's had to move to a new home, her uncle did NOT take good care of her to say the least, and she has stress from school."

"Yes." Herman looked at his watch and said, "Our time is up, goodbye."

Voldemort was slightly disappointed that he didn't get to chew Herman out very much but was satisfied with the interview anyway. He and Alexia walked out to go to her second period class drawing plenty of stares from everyone in the hallway.

They walked into her English classroom next to see Mrs. Wormwood, who Alexia said was neutral towards gays. When they entered the teacher turned around and absent-mindedly wondered out loud, "Could you look any gayer?"

"Well," started Voldemort. "I could, but for the life of me I can't figure out where Quirrell put the 'I Heart Nuts' bracelet." Wormwood stared at him for a full half minute before roaring with laughter and continuing the interview.

The majority of the interviews went well, most of Alexia's teachers didn't say anything negative about her no matter how much they might've desired to due to being intimidated and/or distracted by Voldemort's bold attire. They decided to go and drop in on Quirrell and see how he was doing after they finished talking to all of Alexia's teachers.

They arrived in front of Quirrell's classroom and could see him talking with Tom's parents while looking flustered and nervous. Quirrell and Tom were both fidgeting while Tom's father, who looked quite a lot like Tom, was lecturing Quirrell about something, probably his orientation.

"Poor Quirrell," said Voldemort looking through the classroom window. "I think we need to go and rescue him." He opened the door and strode in, looking confident and wearing an expression that clearly said "Gay pride". Tom's eyes widened and he quickly bit his hand and turned away from everyone else as his parents openly gaped at Voldemort.

"Hello sweetie," said Voldemort in a bright tone as he swooped down to Quirrell and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey Joe." Quirrell smiled in spite of the situation as Voldemort pulled up a chair next to him.

Tom's parents looked mortified as Voldemort sat down and put an arm around Quirrell's shoulders. The father stared and said in horror, "And Tom, you go OVER TO THEIR HOUSE?"

"Well, uh, that's because," stuttered Tom.

"I'm his girlfriend!" Alexia pulled Tom up and gave him a hug. "See?"

"Yeah, boyfriend, erm, girlfriend," stammered Tom.

"And besides," interrupted Voldemort. "What does it matter if we're gay?"

"Joe!" hissed Quirrell, but Tom's mom and dad started going on rants at the same time. Tom and Alexia left the room to hang out in the hallway while Voldemort, Quirrell, and the Hummels got into a debate. Ten minutes later the grumpy old janitor came by and yelled at all of them for staying late and shoed them out of the building. Tom's parents walked away with ice cold glares at Voldemort and Quirrell as they got in their car.

"So, who won?" asked Alexia as they drove home. She couldn't handle riding in a silent car that night seeing as she could tell that Voldemort was feeling cramped in his skinny jeans due to what was going to take place when they got home.

"It was a tie," replied Quirrell. "We didn't have time to get really into it."

"Yeah," said Voldemort. "Quirrell, would you PLEASE drive faster?"

"Impatient?"

"You have no idea," growled Voldemort as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. When they finally arrived at the house Voldemort ran up to the front door and opened it for Quirrell and Alexia. Quirrell walked in and started blushing and Alexia just gave them a knowing smirk once everyone was inside.

Alexia was mentally worn out from the conferences, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't block Voldemort out any longer. She covered her mouth with her hand and then couldn't keep it in anymore and blurted out, "I WANNA FUCK YOU ALL NIGHT LONG, QUIRRELL!"

Voldemort and Quirrell looked at her with shock as she clamped a hand over her mouth, blushed, and pointed at Voldemort. Voldemort managed to blush even darker than Alexia and nervously smiled at Quirrell. Quirrell laughed and dragged Voldemort over to the stairs, not bothering to talk to Alexia about her outburst.

"Hey Quirrell," said Alexia as Voldemort and Quirrell took their coats off and started going up the stairs.

"What?"

"When it's your turn, be gentle with him." Alexia smirked again and headed downstairs with Belinda and Alice while Voldemort and Quirrell stared after her.

"How did she know?" asked Quirrell.

"I dunno, why'd we let Scarfy give her the talk? She knows about EVERYTHING we do up here. And for her to sense that you- geez, you must be REALLY wound up."

"Teehee."

The next morning was still a school day, as much as Quirrell wished it wasn't, him and Voldemort were both sore. Voldemort stretched, yawned, and held Quirrell close to him and kissed him. Quirrell kissed back, feeling happier than he ever had on a school morning. He deepened their kiss and cuddled closer to Voldemort, trying to say how much he loved him before he had to go off to school.

Voldemort pulled his mouth away from Quirrell's to speak but Quirrell leaned forward and continued their kissing. Voldemort let Quirrell go on for as long as he wanted and started rubbing Quirrell's back in large circles, making sure he was nice and warm. Quirrell in turn put one of his hands on Voldemort's face and held him/rubbed his thumb along Voldemort's jaw as they kissed. After a minute Quirrell pulled back and sighed, enjoying how good he felt and wishing he could stay in his comfy bed all day.

"So Quirrell, how're you feeling this morning?" asked Voldemort.

Quirrell sighed and nuzzled Voldemort's neck, "I'm feeling tired and achy but also extremely happy to be here with you."

"Too bad you have school, I hate being here without you."

"I want to lay here in bed all day with you to hug and kiss, and be warm and drink hot chocolate."

"Hmmm, that sounds perfect." Voldemort ruffled Quirrell's soft hair and kissed his forehead. "But, we have to get up now."

"Uuuuuuuugh."

"Hey, honey," said Voldemort, feeling particularly affectionate that morning. "I'll make some hot cocoa for us when you and Alexia get home from school, and you and I can curl up together in a chair in the living room and cuddle, or watch a movie or something."

"You are so perfect," Quirrell sighed as he gave Voldemort yet another kiss. He pulled away after a minute and said, "But I really do have to get to school, I'm giving the kiddies a test today."

"Hmmmm, what kind of test?"

"An interesting one, I want to be there to see if anyone panics."

"Oh Quirrell," said Voldemort with a smirk. "Did you make it really hard?"

"It's not particularly hard, but I DID do something with the answers."

"Like what?"

"It's a 50 multiple choice question quiz, and every single answer except for 43 and 26 is C."

"Wow," said Voldemort, clearly impressed. "I'd start freaking out if I had to take that test."

"Exactly." Quirrell stretched again and reluctantly crawled out of bed. "I'll wake Alexia up and let you make the bed; I know I don't always get it right."

As Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia all got up and ready for the day Belinda and Alice hung out by the warm fireplace to talk.

'_Ssssssssooooo,'_ started Belinda. _'When are they expecting?'_

'Expecting?' asked Alice.

'_Yesss, when are Voldemort and Quirrell expecting their firssssssst, oh, what do you mammalsssss ssssssay, litter?'_

Alice looked as shocked as a bunny could look and replied, 'Well, they're not."

'_WHAT? After all of that lasssst night?'_

'Yeah.' Alice shifted awkwardly on the bricks she was sitting on and tried to think of a way to explain. 'You see, both of them are male, so they can't have kids.'

Belinda looked as confused as a snake could and tried to hiss her confusion, _' No, no, no, Quirrell'sssss a girl! I know Voldemort is male, ssssssso Quirrell MUSSST be female, otherwisssssssse it wouldn't work, right?'_

'Yeah actually, it sort of does work.'

'_Care to explain?'_

'NO.'

'_Oh come on, you're a rabbit, you know everything about ssssssex!'_

'Only because a rainbow scarf told me,' muttered Alice. Belinda had been there when Scarfy had given Alexia the talk, but she didn't know enough human speech to understand it. She was now only catching on to some of it because of the magic she was being exposed to and having a fellow animal who knew English to talk to. And even though it'd be awkward in the future of Alice to have to explain, it wasn't Belinda's fault that she couldn't tell the physical difference between human males and females. Belinda was a reptile, so she obviously wasn't familiar about the way humans/mammals nursed their young.

'_Ssssssooo you won't tell me?'_

'Not now at least.' Alice hopped out into the kitchen to get breakfast and lessen the chances of Belinda talking to her about sex.

When Quirrell and Alexia left for school, Voldemort sighed and plopped down onto the couch looking absolutely miserable. His heart ached for Quirrell, and he felt incredibly lonely just sitting there without Quirrell to hold. He could go on the computer or watch TV, but he felt too depressed to try doing anything. And yet he knew that by the time Quirrell got home he'd feel horrible and would be glad to see him, and then might go back to feeling awful. He had started feeling that way in the past week, longing for Quirrell while he was away and feeling bad all day, cheering up when Quirrell got home and then for some reason feeling worse after an hour or so. He didn't know what was going on with his moods, but he hoped it stopped soon. Of course he usually managed to hide when he was feeling unexplainably sad or grumpy, but it still irked him.

Quirrell stood in the front of his classroom after he handed out his test to give his class his typical pre-test speech. "Okay everyone, your attention, please?" All of his students tiredly turned towards him with drooping eyelids as he started talking.

"While taking the test there is of course no talking if you talk I have to assume you're cheating if I have to assume you're cheating you get a zero zeroes are bad so don't talk."

"Also, while taking our test, you may look up for inspiration, down in desperation, but not side to side for information." He paused and said, "If I see any one of you copying your neighbor I will give you a zero as well. And I will see you, because as you all know I like to sit up here at my desk in front of the class and stare at you all while you take your test to make you feel uncomfortable and make sure you're doing your own work. Clear?"

"Yes," muttered a few people.

"Good. You may begin."

Alice hopped around the house, feeling restless and hoping that Belinda would stay by the fire all day. She hopped up into Quirrell and Voldemort's room to see if she could find anything interesting. She looked all around and didn't see anything worth looking at until she decided to look under their bed. The bunny pushed away the blankets and quits that were draped over the side of the bed and saw nothing but books all under the bed. Out of curiosity, she pulled one out and looked at it.

Nothing seemed unusually about the book, it was just a plain old romance novel, so why was it under Quirrell's bed? Everything under the bed was dusty, including the book she had, so she guessed it hadn't been read in awhile.

Alice spent a couple of hours reading, it seemed perfectly normal to her, just a sweet and well written romance novel that Quirrell would enjoy very much.

And then she got to the middle of the book.

Oooh la la. So THAT was why Quirrell had it under his bed. Alice guessed that all bachelors, even those like Quirrell, wanted to read something like this sometimes.

Alice finished the book and nearly put it back under his bed when she got a better idea. She dragged the book alongside her as she hopped into Alexia's room and put the book under HER bed.

One down, thirty some more to go. Maybe she had just found a way to educate Belinda; she doubted Quirrell had only straight books….

_**REVIEW PLEASE! :)**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've had school, the flu, and ankle issues (I feel about a week ago and I'm going to see a Doctor in an hour or so). Anyways, hope you enjoy this :D**

Voldemort sighed as he started at the clock above the fireplace. 2:15 PM. Quirrell would be home any minute now and he'd promised him hot chocolate that morning. Even though his mood was still gloomy he decided to make things nice for Quirrell, seeing as he'd feel better once Quirrell got home and would hopefully stay better, goodness knows Quirrell didn't need even more stress, best to keep his mood swings secret from Quirrell as much as he could.

He got off of the couch, walked into the kitchen, got his favorite cauldron out, pulled out milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla, added water to the cauldron, and lit a fire beneath it.

A couple minutes later, as the cocoa was cheerfully cooking and filling the house with a strong scent of chocolate, Voldemort heard the door unlock and saw Quirrell and Alexia walk in.

"Voldy!" Quirrell ran up to Voldemort and gave him a hug, pulling him away from the cauldron for a minute.

Voldemort smiled, immediately feeling much better than he had before Quirrell got home and hugged Quirrell back, "Hey Quirrell, how was your day?"

Quirrell yawned and replied, "It was pretty good; I seem to be coming down with something though." As he spoke, Voldemort noticed a rasp in his voice and the fact that Quirrell seemed to be shivering in his arms even though he was still wearing his coat.

"Poor thing," Voldemort soothed as he rubbed Quirrell's back. "The cocoa will be ready in a few minutes, and then we can cuddle up on the couch and drink hot cocoa. I'm sure the hot drink will help your throat, and I'll get to hold you and keep you warm."

"That sounds wonderful," said Quirrell with a cough. Quirrell went to back out of their embrace to go and take his coat off, but Voldemort instead pulled him in for a kiss. Quirrell widened his eyes, obviously not thinking Voldemort would kiss him while he was obviously ill, but closed his eyes and relaxed, thoroughly enjoying their closeness.

"As sweet as this is, THE COCOA IS BURNING!" yelled Alexia. Voldemort handed her his wand and continued kissing Quirrell while also slipping Quirrell's coat off and closing the slight gap in between their bodies so Quirrell would warm up.

Alexia impatiently stood by the cauldron and watched her adopted parents nonverbally say how much they'd missed each other that day. She stood there stirring until the cocoa was done, and then shouted, "IT'S DONE! TURN THE HEAT DOWN! I CAN'T DO AN ACTUAL SPELL WITH YOUR WAND!"

Voldemort rolled his eyes and parted from Quirrell, "Sheesh, I'm here, give me back my wand." Alexia handed it to him and started to leave when he asked, "Why in such a rush?"

"I HAVE TO PEE!" Alexia bolted upstairs and nearly tripped over Alice on the stairs.

Quirrell got out a ladle as Voldemort got our three mugs. "Hey, do we have marshmallows?" asked Quirrell.

"Yes," replied Voldemort, pulling a bag of them out from a cupboard. "If you can get them from me." Quirrell laughed and playfully chased Voldemort around the kitchen and out into the living room. Alexia walked downstairs, noticed she'd have to wait awhile for cocoa if she let Voldemort ladle it out since he was busy, so she served the cocoa and brought it out into the living room. Quirrell was still running around the living room trying to get the bag of marshmallows from Voldemort.

"Hey guys, cocoa is served," said Alexia as she nervously set the mugs down on the coffee table. "Be careful."

"GOTTCHA!" exclaimed Quirrell as he pounced on Voldemort and pinned him to the couch. Quirrell snatched the bag of marshmallows from Voldemort's hand and tossed them at Alexia, who caught the bag and started to put them in their hot cocoa.

Voldemort sighed and looked up at Quirrell, who beamed down at him. "As happy as I am to see you Quirrell, I want to be able to sit up."

"Awwww, okay." Quirrell pulled Voldemort up and cuddled up to him, starting to shiver again. Voldemort in turn wrapped his arms around Quirrell and held him close. Alexia gave them their cocoa and grabbed Quirrell a blanket from a chair and threw it at him. Not being athletic and instead being pathetic, Quirrell failed to catch it and it instead hit Voldemort in the face.

"Ooof!" Voldemort took the blanket and draped it over him and Quirrell, wanting to make sure Quirrell felt warm. As Quirrell leaned into his arms and closed his eyes Voldemort began to feel uncharacteristic prickles of annoyance, undoubtedly because of his moods. He looked down at Quirrell and wondered why on Earth he'd feel this way while looking down on the person he loved more than anything else in the world. Trying to shake the feelings he was starting to have, Voldemort ruffed Quirrell's soft brown hair and desperately tried to focus on Quirrell.

A few minutes later everyone in the living room was relaxing except Voldemort, who was about ready to throw something he felt so irritated. Needing a way to verbally let out his frustration and not hit something, he blurted out "QUIRRELL!"

"Hmmm, what?" Quirrell tiredly opened his eyes and looked at Voldemort "What's up?"

"What the fuck were you thinking when you bought those drapes? I mean, they don't match anything else in here, and the flower designs are violets, while everything else in here has roses."

Alexia and Quirrell started at Voldemort, who didn't even know where that outburst had even come from.

"Well," started Quirrell. "I didn't buy them, back when I was still with my parents, my mom gave me them to remember her by when I moved out. She likes flowers just as much as I do, so she thought I'd like them, and I do. Roses and violets can go together, right?"

"Yeah, uh, they're great, actually," stammered Voldemort. He wished he hadn't just offended Quirrell on something that was special to him. "I uh, just noticed they were different from everything else in the room, and I was surprised since you're usually consistent with your design stuff, ya know?"

"Yeah." Quirrell relaxed again and smiled. "Well, it's cool you noticed them, I think they compliment the roses even though they're different."

"Yeah, they do." Quirrell started coughing again and Voldemort felt he needed to do something for Quirrell. "Hey Quirrell, wanna watch anything?"

"Yeah, do you care what it is?"

"Well, you're the ill one, you can pick out anything and we'll watch it with you. Right Alexia?"

"Sure, I'm sure he'll pick something good.

"So," said Quirrell. "You're letting me pick out anything to watch?"

"Anything," confirmed Voldemort.

10 MINUTES LATER

"I am not amused," said Voldemort as he watched the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic intro.

"You said ANYTHING," said Quirrell.

"I never regretted watching something this much," said Alexia. "Elements of Harmony? REALLY?"

"You guys suck. Just wait, I'll have all of you addicted," said Quirrell with a smug smile.

Quirrell thoroughly enjoyed watching his My Little Pony episodes despite Voldemort and Alexia making snide comments all through the first couple. Alice was making comments too from on top of Alexia's lap, but he couldn't hear anyway, and Belinda was asleep by the fire.

"I love how the dragon barfs up mail," said Voldemort.

"Spike's cute," said Quirrell.

"If you say so."

A few episodes in, however, there was less and less negative comments.

"Hey Quirrell," said Voldemort.

"Hm?"

"You know that yellow pony with the pink hair and wings?"

"Fluttershy? Yeah."

"Well, she reminds me of you, since she's so sweet, timid, cute and gentle, just like you."

"Awwww, you're sweet." Quirrell yawned and said, "Wanna know what the title theme song reminds me of?"

"What?"

"Your sad, friendless life, before you met me."

Voldemort opened his mouth to argue when he realized something. 'Such silliness did not seem worth the effort it expends. But… you opened up my eyes and now the truth is crystal clear, like splendid summer skies. And it's such a wonderful surprise. I used to wonder what friendship could be… until you all shared its magic with me, big adventure, tons of fun, a beautiful heart faithful and strong, sharing kindness it's an easy feat and magic makes it all complete… do you know you are my very best friends?' It DID sound like him back when he was younger, before he bothered with friendship or love or even knew Quirrell.

He looked down at Quirrell who was laughing on his lap, "I'm kidding Voldy."

"No, it's true though, some of those lyrics are so accurate it's creepy." All Voldemort could think about was Quirrell being beautiful, faithful, sort of strong, fun, kind, and some of the adventures they'd had.

Quirrell tilted his head up to smile at Voldemort and received another kiss. Voldemort could hear that once both he and Quirrell had closed their eyes Alexia snuck off to her room to do homework. He didn't say anything though; at least he found a way to get her to want to work on that muggle math homework of hers.

Voldemort pulled out of this kiss and looked into Quirrell's beautiful blue eyes. They were light blue, like water with the sun shining on it, and at the moment gleamed with happiness.

"Your eyes are pretty," said Voldemort as he smiled and affectionately ruffled Quirrell's hair.

"Oh, um, thanks," replied Quirrell, surprised by the compliment, Voldemort usually wasn't one for being sweet like that.

"Well, I only just now really noticed how blue they are." Voldemort kissed Quirrell's forehead and said, "Wanna watch something else?"

Quirrell coughed, shivered and said, "Well, I have papers to grade. I should get going on those."

"Can I get you anything? Tea? Cough drops?"

"Well, um, since you're offering green tea with honey sounds great." Quirrell threw their blanket off and walked out to the table to start going over some tests and worksheets his students had done. Voldemort reluctantly watched him go, immediately wishing for a day that Quirrell could just relax and cuddle with him with no worries from school and without being sick.

Voldemort got up and put the kettle on, watching Quirrell still shiver at the table. Wanting to make sure he was doing everything he possibly could for Quirrell, Voldemort brought a blanket over and said, "Hey, Quirrell could you stand up for a minute? I have a blanket for you."

Quirrell sighed and stood up as Voldemort draped it around his shoulders. Voldemort leaned in to give Quirrell a kiss when to his surprise Quirrell pulled away and tiredly sighed, "Not now, Voldemort. I have too much to do, especially if I want to be in bed before midnight."

"Oh. Okay." Quirrell turning down a kiss? There must be something wrong. "Hey hon, I'm gonna go and get the thermometer, you can still work as it takes your temperature."

"Sure" Quirrell said indifferently, a sure sign that Quirrell was exhausted. Starting to feel genuinely concerned about Quirrell's health, Voldemort ran upstairs to the bathroom, grabbed the thermometer and hurried downstairs and stuck it is Quirrell's mouth.

Voldemort saw Quirrell roll his eyes and to try and make Quirrell a bit happier and perhaps more awake he got out Quirrell's favorite mug and put a bag of green tea in it, "Hey Quirrell, once the kettle whistles and this steeps for a few minutes your tea will be ready."

"Hmm." The thermometer beeped and Voldemort walked over and took it out of Quirrell's mouth.

Voldemort stared at the thermometer and asked Quirrell, "So, uh, how've you been feeling today?"

"Fine, well, except that I've been really tired, I ache all over, not related to last night's activities, I've been coughing with a sore throat, I feel cold, and I have all of these papers to grade!"

"And you have a fever of 102.1," said Voldemort. "Quirrell, you have a lot of the symptoms of the flu."

"Voldemort, I'm sure it's noth-"

"NO. Quirrell, this had a sudden onset too, I'm pretty sure you have the flu, and you need to get in bed. I don't CARE that you have papers to grade!" Quirrell looked like he was about to protest and Voldemort cut in, "Look, even if you didn't have anything else, you're not going tomorrow with a fever of 102. Just, like, call in a substitute and rest, your health is more important that your kids getting their quizzes or whatever back, you really need to rest."

"Fine, I'll go to bed, but I might go tomorrow, we'll see how I am in the morning."

Voldemort sighed and ruffled Quirrell's hair when he walked by, "Sorry honey, I'm just really worried about you is all. So, uh, I'm gonna go downstairs and see if we have any medicine, and you can put however much honey you want in your tea and take it upstairs to drink in bed."

"Okay." Quirrell got his tea ready and headed upstairs as Voldemort gathered the medical potions he'd give to Quirrell while he was downstairs. Voldemort jogged up the stairs with them to see Quirrell lying in his side of the bed propped up on a pile of pillows with the lamp on with his tea and Jane Austen novel.

"See? I'm resting," said Quirrell with a smile and another cough.

"Good, I'm glad." Voldemort came over with his potions and said, "Okay Quirrell, there's a lot here, wizards haven't made one potion for the flu so I have here one for your fever, one for your cough which should help with your sore throat as well, and one for your aches. The chills you've been getting should go away after a few days of taking the one for your fever. All of these need to be taken every four hours or so-" Voldemort looked at his watch "I'll have to wake you up at midnight to take more."

Quirrell sighed and said, "Voldemort, if I go to school tomorrow, I'll have to skip some doses."

"Well, I don't think you are." Voldemort uncapped a dose of cough medicine and said, "Here's your first cough medicine dose." As Quirrell drank his potions and more often than not made faces at their tastes and feels Voldemort soothed and encouraged him, Quirrell relaxed more and was able to get everything down.

"There ya go," said Voldemort as Quirrell finished of his medicine. "I have 2 more doses ready, so I won't need to mix up any until your 8:00 round tomorrow. I'm glad we stocked up on premade potions and ingredients, I wouldn't be thrilled if I had to be making any at 4 in the morning."

"Thank you," said Quirrell as he yawned. "I'm really sleepy; would you come over here and warm me up?"

"After I set the alarm." Voldemort turned the alarm clock on for midnight and then crawled in under the covers to be with Quirrell. He wrapped his arms around Quirrell and held him close, making sure he felt warm and safe in his arms. "Get well soon," he whispered to Quirrell.

"I hope I do, goodnight."

Voldemort woke up as the alarm clock went off at midnight; he gave a rather grumpy and tired Quirrell his potions, and then repeated the process at 4 AM. Quirrell fell back asleep and woke up around 6:30, in time to get ready for school. As he got out of bed, trying to not wake Voldemort up, Voldemort stirred and said, "Hey, we're you going?"

"I'm going to go and eat breakfast."

"No, you need rest; I'll bring it to you in bed."

Quirrell sighed and said, "Well, at least let me get dressed and go down to make my own tea or something."

Voldemort nodded and said, "Just make sure to wear your robe, I don't want you being cold." Quirrell coughed and got up to get dressed as Voldemort headed downstairs to put the kettle on and start breakfast.

A few minutes later Quirrell came down dressed for work and prepared his tea. Voldemort looked at him and said, "Hey, when I checked your temperature at 4 it was 101, you can't go to school today."

"I'm feeling better, I really need to go today," said Quirrell as he threw the tea bag out of his cup and drank some tea.

"Well, you're still really ill, I can't let you go. Can you like, call in a substitute or something? This is the FLU."

Quirrell sighed and said, "I have a lecture to do today and all of my notes are here, I have to go." He got up from the table, put his coat on, and was about to walk out the door when Voldemort ran in front of the door, put his hands on Quirrell's shoulders, and pushed him against the wall.

"YOU ARE STAYING HOME, AND NOTHING YOU SAY WILL CHANGE MY MIND, QUIRINUS QUIRRELL. YOU ARE SICK AND NEED TO REST!" Voldemort looked at Quirrell to see his eyes full of fear and his entire body shaking. Once his eyes made contact with Quirrell's Quirrell closed his and whimpered.

"Oh, oh no Quirrell, please don't cry," whispered Voldemort, releasing Quirrell's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you like that, but you really need to stay here today, I don't want to see you get worse or die or something from this."

Quirrell opened his now red and wet eyes to look at Voldemort and sniffled, "I understand, you scared me for a minute there."

Voldemort tentatively pulled Quirrell in for a hug, not wanting to scare him, and Quirrell practically threw himself into Voldemort's welcoming arms.

"Shhh, it's okay, I've got you," soothed Voldemort. "I'll get to work on your potions after you get back in bed." Quirrell nodded and sobbed lightly on Voldemort's shoulder, and in turn Voldemort held him closer and rubbed his back in hopes that he'd relax.

Quirrell did relax and asked in a heavy recently-been-crying voice, "So, how is Alexia getting to school?"

"I don't mind staying home."

"Fine." Voldemort wouldn't normally let her stick around, but seeing as the nearest bus had left fifteen minutes ago, and Alexia couldn't make it to school without flying, and her flying around outside was the last thing he wanted, nothing was more conspicuous.

The next few days Voldemort continued to nurse Quirrell back to health, making sure he was comfortable and had his potions on time. Quirrell would always put up a bit of a fuss at the beginning of each day but in truth didn't mind staying home. Voldemort was almost perpetually in a good mood with Quirrell around, and he was always with him, either out on the couch watching TV or beside him in bed while he was reading.

On Quirrell's third day of staying home Voldemort asked, "Hey Quirrell, wanna watch something besides My Little Pony? Not that I mind it, but it's gotten a little old."

Quirrell smiled and snuggled close to Voldemort under their blanket on the couch and said, "Sure, what'd you have in mind?"

"I dunno, I was just going to flip through some channels."

"Go for it." Voldemort channel surfed until he got to Britain's Got Talent, and immediately yelled "NO!"

Lucius Malfoy and a gang of Death Eaters were on the stage doing a dance routine that sickened Voldemort. It was absolutely pathetic, and Piers had already sounded his buzzer on them. "That's not dancing!" shouted Voldemort "That's choreography!"

"I think they're pretty good," said Quirrell, watching as all of the Death Eaters started to do the dance to Thriller.

"No they're not, see, Piers agrees."

"He hates everyone."

"That's beside the point!" Voldemort watched moodily as Lucius and his Death Eaters finished their routine. Piers started talking first and Voldemort shouted "Yeah, you tell 'em Piers!"

"Ooookay, how about we change the channel," said Quirrell, starting to see Voldemort about to go on a rant.

Voldemort sighed and said, "It's sad, hardly anyone knows how to really dance these days." His voice trailed off as he looked at Quirrell. "Hey Quirrell."

"Hmm?"

"How do you feel about learning how to dance?"

Quirrell beamed at him and said, "I thought you'd never ask."

**Review please! :D Oh, and to those of you who liked August 5****th****, I have a couple more little smutty drabbles that I might add to it in a second chapter :3 So watch for those in like, the next few hours or so when I get them up (I might be going to the Doctor's soon, so yeah, idk if I'll have time to get them up).**

**Also to those August 5****th**** lovers, here's some awesome Quirrellmort smut for ya :3 **.net/s/7496559/1/Voldemort_Is_Going_Down


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello :D For the first time ever I'm going to respond to a few reviews right now.**

**I know I've never done this before, seeing as most of you sign your reviews, but a couple of points came up that I should acknowledge in 2 unsigned ones.**

**1. I am aware that Brain Rosenthal has gorgeous brown eyes. However, canon Quirrell has blue, so I'm going with that.**

**2. I thought it was clear by Alice and Belinda's convo about how Voldy and Quirrell are both male, and therefore actual sex isn't possible, and as Belinda will learn about soon enough about how "intercourse" is :3. So, with that in mind, no, Voldemort is NOT pregnant, seeing as I'm not a fan of Mpreg, by magical means or not.**

**Well, that's all for specific reviews. Oh, although I know why it happened, I still don't like it much:**

**What the hell did you guys think of 12? xDDD I know I didn't get ANY reviews for it since I posted 12 and then 13 less than 24 hours afterwards, so no one bothered to review 12, but I'd really like the know what you guys thought of the little sleepover (Quirrell was in a freakin skirt, you have to have SOME opinion about that xD)**

**And here we are, part 17:**

"One two three, one two three, oh for God's sake Quirrell, this isn't that hard!" Voldemort sighed in exasperation as Quirrell got his timing off again.

"I'm trying! Sorry Voldy, I've never really danced before." Quirrell walked over to their stereo and restarted the song. "Okay, I'll get it this time, I promise."

"Good," said Voldemort as he put one hand on Quirrell's waist and the other holding Quirrell's hand. Quirrell smiled and put a hand on Voldemort's shoulder and began their dance steps. "One two three, one two three, there you go Quirrell!" Voldemort smiled back at Quirrell as they waltzed about the living room and said, "We're doing good now, but remember to be especially careful about not rushing the third beat, it's the one musicians and dancers most often want to rush." Quirrell nodded and concentrated on getting his footwork right.

Quirrell seemed to be getting it down, so to mess with him a little bit Voldemort started counting, "One two three, uno dos tres, eins zwei drei, hana dul set, einn tveir þrír, un deux trios, adeen dvah tree, uno due tre-"

"Stop it!" laughed Quirrell as he finally missed a step. They slowed to a halt as Quirrell continued laughing on Voldemort's shoulder. Quirrell gave Voldemort a kiss and then said, "Well, I can dance a waltz! Thanks for teaching me."

"My pleasure." Voldemort sat down on the couch and was shortly followed by Quirrell.

"So, how do you know so many different languages?"

"Well, I was stuck in the Albanian forests for around ten years. A lot of travelers pass by, and I picked up a lot of random stuff from different languages. Albania is a nice secluded spot; it attracts quite a few foreigners. And if I possessed a snake or something I'd follow them around to see if anyone happened to be magical. All this resulted in me learning weird stuff from all over the place."

"That's really cool." Quirrell sighed and said, "All I know is a little bit of French, since I'm so into romance. Wanna teach me some phrases you know?"

"Uhhhhh, okay." Voldemort closed his eyes for a second and said, "The language I know the most of is Italian, since I learned it as I learned to dance because it's the language of music. You'll probably be learning little bits of it as I teach you dancing as well. For example, poco retardando means "a little slower" adante means "moderately slow" allegro means "fast" or "bright" allegretto is "moderately fast", slower than allegro but faster than adante.

"I am never going to remember all this," said Quirrell with a gloomy look.

"Well, you'll probably only ever see this stuff on a piece of music, so it's fine if you don't." Voldemort pulled Quirrell onto his lap and said, "Want any other language tidbits?"

"Say something in German."

"Der kaffee ist gut. The coffee is good."

"Very random."

"I know. But at least hearing other tongues and trying to pick up some stuff helped with my endless boredom."

"Then I came along."

"Yep, and my life has been pretty awesome."

Quirrell smiled, yawned, started to shiver and said, "Would you please get me a blanket? I'm feeling cold."

"You and being cold," teased Voldemort. Quirrell crawled off of his lap and he headed upstairs to their bedroom.

Voldemort walked into their room and felt a strong mood swing. Yes he'd had it a bit while dancing but he'd been doing something he was passionate about. This? The oldest of all pet peeves was facing him on the carpet on Quirrell's side of the bed.

"QUIRRELL!" he hollered.

"What?" came the tired reply.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT LEAVING LAUNDRY ON THE FLOOR? ANOTHER FUCKING SOCK IS ON THE FLOOR. CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?"

"Sorry," Quirrell meekly replied. He felt horrible, he managed to get on Voldemort's nerves about dancing, the thing he loved the most to do, and about leaving a sock on the floor.

"YOU BETTER BE." Voldemort moodily snatched a blanket from the bed and made a side trip to the bathroom to throw the sock into the laundry basket. He stormed downstairs and threw the blanket at Quirrell, who timidly caught it and draped it over himself.

"Voldemort, I'm really sorry, after I took my potions this morning I was distracted and accidentally left it there." Voldemort ignored him and went into the kitchen. "Uh, Voldemort?"

"I'll talk to you when I don't feel like hitting something." Quirrell started at the floor and wanted to start crying. Why couldn't he do anything right? He felt like he was letting Voldemort down both as being his mate and best friend. His eyes started to fill with tears and he closed them to hide it; he couldn't be both a disappointment and a wimp right now. Even if Voldemort was more attractive, smarter, and stronger than he was.

Voldemort slammed the tea kettle down on the stove and turned the burner on. He got out some chamomile for both him and Quirrell, knowing Quirrell loved it with a little honey and that he needed to calm himself down. He found Quirrell's stash of tea and prepared two mugs, added the water when the kettle whistled, and let them steep. The aroma of the tea calmed him down a bit as he walked out to see Quirrell looking depressed on the couch.

"Hey you," said Voldemort went he sat down next to Quirrell. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you and overreacting like I did, Quirrell. I've been worrying about you for the past few days, hoping you'd get better and that stress sort of boiled over today, and I want to apologize for it." Quirrell still stared off, and Voldemort noticed he was shaking and biting his lip like he was trying hard not to cry. Voldemort gently reached over to hold Quirrell's hand and was met with icy cold flesh.

"Oh my goodness you're freezing." Voldemort got up and said, "I have some tea ready for us, it'll help you warm up." Quirrell nodded and let out a small sob as Voldemort left to get their cups. He came back in as Quirrell blew his nose. Voldemort set their mugs down and said, "Come here, I want to hold you."

After he sat down Quirrell nervously got onto his lap and was surprised to feel how warm Voldemort felt in comparison to himself. Voldemort felt a rush of guilt as he saw how upset and sad he'd made Quirrell. Quirrell was still biting his lip and trembling as Voldemort got the blanket, spread it out over them and held Quirrell as close as he possibly could. Voldemort felt Quirrell put his head on his shoulder and start to cry. "It's okay," he soothed. "Let it out, I've got you, everything is okay." Quirrell cried even harder as Voldemort cooed to him, not being able to hold back his tears any longer.

"I'm sorry," said Quirrell, his voice muffled from his crying.

"For what? I'm the one who did this."

"I'm pathetic."

"And it's okay," said Voldemort as he reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a box of tissues for Quirrell. "You need to let yourself cry sometimes, and it's perfectly alright." Quirrell sniffled and nodded, not feeling much better. Voldemort let him blow his nose a few times and then asked, "So, do you want your tea?"

"Yes please." Quirrell took his tea and immediately relaxed as he felt the familiar heat from the cup transfer into his previously cold hands. He took a slip and sighed, feeling at home in Voldemort's lap and calm with the sweet taste of chamomile in his mouth and throat.

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Voldemort. "It's getting a little late."

"Well, I've been sick for awhile, and I really do have quite a few papers to grade." Quirrell nuzzled Voldemort's neck and said, "I hope you don't mind if I work down here at the kitchen table."

"Not at all, I'm going to go to bed though, okay? I'm tired and cranky." Quirrell giggled and got out his briefcase of homework that needed to be graded while Voldemort headed upstairs.

Voldemort sighed as he sat on the bed him and Quirrell shared. He started feeling lonely, and then even lonelier when he realized Quirrell might not come up to cuddle and sleep for another couple of hours. He lit his wand and searched around the room for maybe a spare pillow or anything to cuddle in Quirrell's absence. He found a small collection of Quirrell's My Little Pony stuffed animals in the closet, grabbed one and said, _"Engorgio."_

A few hours later Quirrell cheerfully finished grading papers; he was extremely glad to be done with them. He stowed away his correcting pens, all of his student's homework and his record sheets. He walked up into Alexia's bedroom, and saw she was still awake reading in her bed with a lamp on and Belinda and Alice curled up together on her lap.

"Hey Alexia, what's up? Why aren't you asleep?"

Alexia yawned and said, "I've been up here for a lot of the day but I'm still feeling your guy's stress. I haven't been able to fall asleep."

"I'm sorry." Quirrell sighed and held out his arms, "Want a goodnight hug?"

Alexia moved Alice and Belinda and practically tackled Quirrell. She buried herself fin his arms and enjoyed the only comfort she'd had all day. A minute later she stepped back and said, "Thank you, I needed that."

"You're welcome." Quirrell smiled and shut her door. He walked into his own bedroom and planned to not wake Voldemort up, until he saw the large pony he was cuddling.

"Awwwwwww, that's so messed up," cooed Quirrell.

Voldemort stirred a bit in his sleep and groggily woke up, "What? I don't understand, where's the tea?"

"And how's my widdle dark lord this evening?" cooed Quirrell. "I see you enlarged my Fluttershy plushie."

"Yeah, I felt lonely without you here and needed something to cuddle with." Voldemort picked Fluttershy up and handed her to Quirrell, "I hope you don't mind that I did it, I suppose you could always make her smaller again."

"Nah, it's fine. Why did you choose Fluttershy anyway?"

"She's cute and sweet and timid like you."

"Awwwwwwwww," said Quirrell. He giggled and set Fluttershy on the floor beside him and crawled under the covers. Still tiredly snickering he said, "Cutie wutie," in a teasing voice as he poked Voldemort in the side.

"Cutie wutie yourself," teased Voldemort back as Quirrell curled up to him and received a tickling attack. Quirrell laughing and struggled as Voldemort went for his sides. Eventually Voldemort stopped and pulled Quirrell in for a kiss, which Quirrell gladly and passionately returned. When they parted Voldemort said, "Well, ready for sleep?"

"Yeah, I have school tomorrow." Quirrell snuggled close to Voldemort and fell asleep feeling warm and cozy.

The next day at school Quirrell was feeling better. He wasn't sick anymore and all of his papers were graded. Yet in the back of his mind, some of the things he'd thought the day before stuck with him, was he really a letdown as far as being a boyfriend went? Was he not smart or witty enough for Voldemort, who had been a genius even when he was just a Hogwarts undergraduate?

At the muggle school first semester had ended, bringing some of the student's one semester long classes to a close. While in the lunchroom Alexia and Tom both discovered they had health sixth period.

"So, who's the teacher?" asked Alexia as she took a bite of an apple slice. Tom didn't reply for a moment, so she looked over to see him laughing. "Wha?" she asked through a mouthful of apple.

"Our health/sex ed teacher's name is Ms. Cooter." Alexia choked on her apple and Tom said, "Yeah, that's what I thought too, glad I'm not the only one." They parted ways for the rest of the day to see each other in health class.

Alexia and Tom walked in, discovered they could sit anywhere they wanted and then sat together in the back. Ms. Cooter walked in, and Alexia (along with the straight boys in the room) all collectively sighed.

Ms. Cooter looked to be in her lower twenties and was wearing all pink, but in a light flattering way. Her smooth brown hair was up in a pink bow, and her dress was soft and flowing, yet casual looking. It was a light rose color with a darker pink sash around her slim and elegant waist.

Thinking this must be what Tom's mind feels like when he looked at Quirrell, Alexia dreamily stared as Ms. Cooter started talking, everything else in the room turning hazy aside from their teacher.

"Hello everyone, my name is Ms. Devin Cooter I'm your health and sex education teacher." She smiled warmly at everyone and continued, "Because in health class I'm required to give you guys sexual education I figure that we'll get that out of the way first so the rest of the semester goes smoothly. I'd like you all to get out a piece of paper and write down what you know about reproduction so I can see what I do and don't need to teach. Please try avoiding slang, while I'm sure I'll know what you're talking about it'd help me out a lot if you tried to be a scientific and serious about this as possible. Any questions?" She looked around to see no one's hand raised and said, "Good. Oh, and Joey, you might want to close your mouth, you're drooling on the desk."

Alexia pulled out a blank notebook, decided against ripping any pages out and began writing, mentally cursing Scarfy for telling her enough to fill half the notebook by the end of the class period. She walked up to Ms. Cooter and turned in her notebook.

"Um, I only need the pages you wrote on."

"Well, I wrote one half of the pages in there, so I decided to not bother tearing them out."

Ms. Cooter opened to a page and read a little bit of it to see if it was relevant information. "Woah," she said. "That's actually a dang useful tip, even I didn't know that."

"Uh, yeah, I gotta gay. Erm, go, whatever." Alexia blushed and ran out of the classroom to Quirrell's car.

"Hey, how's your new health class? I hear you have Ms. Cooter," Quirrell said with a smile.

"She's hot. I mean, REALLY hot. Hmmmmmm."

"I can see how this semester is going to go."

Alexia opened the door first when they got home and could tell Voldemort was in a grumpy mood again, she slipped upstairs as Quirrell walked in and called out, "Hello!"

"Quirrell!"

"What is it Voldy?" asked Quirrell, concerned by Voldemort's annoyed tone of voice.

"Why the fuck aren't the DVDs in order? Oh, right, because you're retarded and don't know even know your fucking alphabet! WHY CAN'T ANYTHING BE ORGANIZED AROUND HERE WITHOUT ME HAVING TO DO IT?"

"Voldemort, I'm really sorry," said Quirrell standing by the door feeling worthless. He sighed and kicked his shoes off, and on second thought lined them up with the other shoes by the door. He gloomily walked in to see all of the DVD's on their shelf in alphabetical order and a sour faced Voldemort putting the last one in place. "Sorry hon, I just don't think of these things."

"I can tell." Voldemort stood up and said, "Well, now that I spent forever sorting them I can at least find _The Joe and Jaime Show_ for whenever I want to watch it."

Quirrell felt his eyes watering again from feeling useless and trudged up to their room. He collapsed on the bed and grabbed the Fluttershy plushie to cuddle with. He buried his face in her mane and let a few tears out with them soaking into the soft fabric.

Ten minutes later Voldemort walked in and saw Quirrell lying in a pathetic little heap on the bed. "I'm sorry."

Quirrell sniffled and said, "Would you please lay down with me?"

"Of course." Voldemort crawled onto the bed beside Quirrell and held him from behind. Quirrell in turn let go of the Fluttershy and rolled over to cuddle. He sighed and got as close to Voldemort as possible, savoring the warmth where their bodies touched. Voldemort wrapped his arms around Quirrell and scratched his back where he knew it was probably itchy.

Quirrell immediately relaxed and forgot about their latest little squabble. He put on hand on Voldemort's shoulder, the other on his neck, leaned in a bit and kissed him, using one thumb to gently stroke his jaw. Caught by surprise by Quirrell recovering so soon, Voldemort twitched and then responded, kissing back and scratching harder.

Realizing that they had both been stressed recently, Quirrell knew exactly where it needed to go and hugged Voldemort with his legs, snaking them tightly around his body. Voldemort practically growled into their kiss and dug his sharp nails into Quirrell's back, making Quirrell moan and arch his back.

"Okay guys, I know that being physically intimate is important, but would you PLEASE wait until tomorrow night when I'm over at Tom's?" asked Alexia from their doorway.

Voldemort broke their kiss and sighed, "Fine."

Quirrell unwound his legs from Voldemort's waist and said, "Well, at least this gives us time to fully reconcile and concentrate on not acting under the influence of stress."

Voldemort kissed Quirrell's forehead and said, "Yeah, sounds like a great idea." All the while in his mind he wished they could've gone ahead. His moods weren't getting any less annoying or potent and he had honestly hoped some rough, high energy, non-violent relief (read: sex) would help. Not to mention due to said moods his hormones seemed to be antsy and ready to go at any moment. Oh well, he'd just have to make it another day.

School the next day seemed to fly by, partially because it was a Friday but also, at least for Alexia and Quirrell, they had something to look forward to after school. Alexia had a small mesh bag containing some items for the sleepover at Tom's house that night. She hoped she hadn't forgotten anything, as Tom's parents needed to have a positive opinion of her.

Quirrell drove home that day feeling optimistic. Alexia was on the bus riding home with Tom leaving Voldemort and him a nice night alone in the house. He got home and opened the door to be greeted by a bowl of popcorn, a movie, a mug of hot cocoa, and what seemed to be a loving and caring Voldemort. Quirrell knew something was up with him and his random bouts of temper, but he would allow those thought to leave his head tonight and simply enjoy his company. Quirrell thought the majority of it was anxiety from the past week or so and that it'd be better in the morning.

**First off, the languages Voldy counts in respectively are: English, Spanish, German, Korean, Icelandic, French, Russian and Italian. 10 years and bored to tears in the forests of Albania.**

**Well, that's all for now. I'd like to thank all of you who've stuck through my first few horrendous chapters to get here, especially all of my faithful reviewers, your reviews kep me writing.**


	18. Chapter 18

**AT LAST. I have left all of you with far too long without an update; I certainly hope I live up to my old standards. Quick question: what do you guys think of me adding chapter titles? It'd make it easier to find certain parts while digging through this fic, but at the same time some people don't like titles. I'd love to hear opinions on that, and if you have any title suggestions you may suggest it and it may get used :) **

**And now, without further ado, chapter 18:**

**-..*.o**.***

Tom squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as the bus neared his stop. He fidgeted a lot on a regular basis, but this was intense jitters, like someone trying to sit still during church after drinking four cups of coffee to stay awake.

"What's up?" asked Alexia.

"I'm just nervous. My parents might hate you or something because of Joe and Quirrell. Like you being around them tainted you and that you'll be a bad influence on me because you're pro-gay."

"It's their own fault for being judgmental about gay people. Besides, they're more likely to make me stick around so you're taken and can't get a boyfriend."

"I suppose." Still, he looked worried. "Here, that's my place right there. Just, I dunno, act straight?"

Alexia laughed and even Tom smiled a bit. They jumped off the bus and walked up to the door. "Ready?" asked Tom.

"Ready."

"Brace yourself." Tom said as he unlocked the door and pulled it open. Seeing Alexia smile he said, "No, really, brace yourself."

A large furry mass shot out of the corridor and tackled Alexia to the ground in a mess of excited barks and slobbery licks and kisses. Alexia struggled to catch her breath as Tom dragged the dog off of her, "Come on Nova, up! Geez, I should rename you Hobbes."

"Or Joe. That's pretty much what Joes does when Quirrell gets home from work, only he isn't quite as rambunctious." Nova sniffed all of her and kept up the barking and excitedly wagged her tail.

"Yeah, she needs a lot of exercise, so we'll have an excuse to be in the backyard away from everyone else, which is good. My parents aren't home from work yet, but my sister is here, and she's a bit of a bitch, so try to avoid her. My brother Scott is fine because he's antisocial and doesn't talk to the rest of us anyways, so don't bother him and he won't bother you."

Tom grabbed Alexia's hand and dragged her through the house as quickly and quietly as he could until they got to the back porch. Alexia noticed the house in and of itself was a good place to live. The other inhabitants might not get along with Tom or let him be himself, but she couldn't help but feel slightly envious, considering her uncle had made the very air in her old home difficult to breathe.

"So," said Tom, once they were outside. He dug around in the pile of garden tools and other miscellaneous objects sitting on the patio and found a Frisbee, throwing it for Nova to chase. "Think you'll be fine spending the night here?"

"Yep. I'm assuming I'll be on the couch?"

"Yeah, probably."

"I think my mom is making spaghetti for dinner."

"Yum."

Tom and Alexia took turns tossing the Frisbee for Nova to fetch. After awhile the small talk got too tedious for Tom to handle.

"May I ask a personal question?"

"Go ahead. There isn't much I won't tell you."

"What happened to your family? I mean, Quirrell and Joe are great, but I've been wondering what happened to your parents."

"Ah, well, uh." Alexia had never been asked about her family simply because no one cared. She had even blocked out thoughts of her past from her own mind, preferring to let them be forgotten and try to enjoy the present. Now she had to force them up from the depths of her mind to remember and explain them. "My parents were killed in a car crash. They were both great at magic, even pure-bloods if I'm not mistaken."

"Pure-blood?"

"All magical blood. It doesn't really matter how much muggle or wizard you have in you, but a lot of witches and wizards will use their blood status to try and make it sound like they're better than others. Wizards are kind of racist in that respect. Anyways, after they died, I was left with my uncle, since he's my only living relative."

"Is your uncle Quirrell or Joe? Like, I always thought you looked a bit like Quirrell, but I suppose Joe-"

"No, he isn't either of them." Alexia bit her lip and took a deep breath. Tom understood this was hard to talk about and motioned for her to sit down on the porch as he sat. Even Nova got the message that this was important and curled up on their laps, offering comfort.

"I guess I forgot you didn't know. Almost everyone knew I was living with my uncle, mostly because it was another thing they could pick on me for, going from being 'the nerdy freak with mood issues' and 'the orphan nerdy freak with mood issues'."

"That's terrible that people would pick on you like that. I remember seeing you yelling at Herman and then throwing the water bottle, and all anyone cared about was that it made a good story to tell later."

"Yeah, I- wait. How did you know about that?"

Tom squired and said, "Youtube. And Facebook. People recorded it on their phones."

"Ah, right. I keep forgetting they do that, it's not like watching me throw a fit is something to eat popcorn to."

"Well-" Alexia glared at Tom "Nonononono, it's not a good thing they recorded it to see you snap, but I will admit, I watch it a lot to see Herman's face when the water bottle nearly hits him. I have his math class later in the day, and he doesn't like me much either."

"Oh, okay." Alexia smiled and gave him a side hug, "Sorry. I'm not a very trusting person, you're my first really close friend and it's a bit new to me."

"It's fine. I'm not either, I mean, you're the only friend I've made at this school, and I only left a couple behind from my old school, so I'm not too trusting either."

"Really? You fit in more than I do; I thought you'd be sort of popular."

"With my awkwardness and shyness? Nope. My social activity is hanging out with you and poking people on Facebook whom I don't even know. Um, you were saying, about your uncle?"

"Oh, right. Well, he hates me. There's no denying it. For just about as long as I can remember I was shouted at for being so stupid and unstable. It was always around school time, since I'd be around a lot of kids who all were hyperactive or crazy or whatever, and all of that emotion overpowered me, and every day I'd come home feeling awful from it and being unable to handle much aside from going to my room and trying to sleep.

"My uncle, well, I went from being what looked like a potential powerful witch to being a waste of space." Alexia put her head on Tom's shoulder and started to lightly sob from her own sadness for the first time in a long time. "But that isn't even the worst part. Like, I vaguely remember him caring for me when I was really young. Why did he take me in anyways, if he didn't want me for something? So at first he did, when I was a baby and then a toddler, but then when it became clear I had issues, he, he just-"

"Shhh," Tom soothed. "I don't know why I just shhhhed you, it's fine to let it out and telling you to shut it probably makes it worse." Alexia let out a small laugh and continued her quiet sobs, desperately trying to regain control of herself.

"Hey, what's up back here?" Tom's mother appeared at the back door and opened it. "Is she okay, Tom?"

"Yeah, uh, she finished reading _Bridge to Terabithia_ earlier today and is getting over Leslie dying; she'll be fine later."

"Alright. Dinner is in half an hour, when your dad gets home." She gave them a strained smile and went back into the house.

"Thanks for not saying what was up, that would've been a long and uncomfortable conversation." Alexia sat up and coughed to clear her throat. "I've never told anyone about my past like that. Not even Quirrell and Joe know that much."

"Speaking of Joe and Quirrell, how are they doing?"

"Um, things are mostly fine."

"Mostly?"

"Joe has been having a lot of weird mood swings. On minute he'll be watching My Little Pony and enjoying it and the next he's shouting at Quirrell for leaving laundry on the floor. I have no idea why he's like this, but it's been happening for weeks and it's only getting worse."

"Hopefully it'll just blow over. My parents are a bit at odds with each other as well."

"Yeah, your mom seems stressed."

"Yeah. Well, we should go in I guess. Maybe play some chess, act natural. Something."

"Alright." Alexia, Tom, and Nova headed into the house. Tom led the way to his room, passing past his sister and her boyfriend in the hallway. He opened his door and ushered Alexia in, where she tossed her small overnight bag on the bed.

"Damn it, this will be interesting," said Alexia with a slight blush.

"What?"

"After passing your sister, uh, what's her name?"

"May."

"Okay, after passing May and her boyfriend in the hall I feel like running my fingers through her black hair and pressing my mouth against hers and-"

"Woah there!"

"Not my fault, her boyfriend is the one raring to go!"

"He always is. Even though I don't get along with my sister much, I sort of feel bad for her having that guy. He isn't interested in much aside from getting in her pants."

"Well, she isn't too thrilled with him either; I expect they'll break up in a few weeks." Alexia opened her mesh bag and searched around in it. "Speaking of getting into people's pants, I forgot a pair to change into tomorrow."

"Oh well, I'm sure I have some that'll fit you."

"That'll make Joe so incredibly happy and not suspicious. I suppose he could read my mind to know I'm not lying, but still, ugh."

"Has he ever had to read your mind before?"

"Only for when he was helping me with a certain branch of magic that would help me block out outside emotions, then he'd read my mind a bit, but he's never had to plunge in and dig around in it."

"Dinner's ready!" called Tom's mom.

Tom and Alexia came out into the dining room and sat down next to each other as everyone else settled in. Now that Tom's dad was home Alexia could definitely feel the tension between everyone in the family. Scott appeared to be the only one unaffected, as he was busy texting and listening to music through earbuds.

Everyone sitting at the dinner table in dead silence was the most awkward moment Alexia had ever had. May and her boyfriend were next to each other, across from Tom and Alexia, and both were maintaining pokerfaces, like they were used to it. Tom's mom put food on the table and everyone dished up and ate without any conversation. Tom started twitching and jittering a bit. Alexia couldn't blame him; she wanted to scream. She ate her food as quickly as she could without being messy or impolite and excused herself from the table without anyone caring.

Alexia walked quickly into Tom's room and shut the door. She flopped down onto the bed and took long breaths, trying to clear her mind and push the stress out. Of course it didn't work, but anything was better than being out in the dining room.

Tom came in a few minutes later and sat next to her. "Sorry about that, that's a pretty typical meal over here, especially with company over, as no one wants to stir up trouble."

"Now I understand why you're so nervous. Most people probably think it's puberty related or that you have low self confidence for no discernible reason, but it's because of this. You're terrified to speak out, your brother doesn't give a fuck, your sister is just lying low and playing it safe, and your parents are always near a fight."

"Yeah. I feel kind of bad for dragging you into this-"

"No, don't. You would've snapped from all of this if you didn't have someone to talk to about it. And who am I to judge? At least you don't have a snake around the house that loves snuggling under people's clothing."

He laughed and said, "Man, you know when it's bad when you have to pull out that to brighten your day. Ah, anyways, you seem to have made an alright impression. We're not as close as everyone thinks we'd be, so we need to work on that."

"Want to practice?"

"Oh God. Um, well, I guess, sure. This isn't really how I imagined my first kiss to be, but okay."

"This'll be your first? Well, I have a few tips that a rainbow scarf told me."

"I'm dreading this already. Go ahead."

Alexia sat up and faced Tom. "Okay, there's three basic ways to approach this. The first: the 'fish' position, which looks like this." She lightly pursed her lips together and got a chuckle from Tom. "Second is the 'catching flies', or 'brainless' pose, which is when you let your face go completely slack and your mouth is slightly open. Finally the 'snake that unhinges its jaw to swallow its prey whole.'" Alexia opened her mouth as far as possible and went "Aaaahhhhh. Out of all of these it's best to be somewhere around the fish or the brainless pose, basically a fish catching flies."

"That sure is a weird way to look at kissing. It'll be hard to do that with a straight face."

"On the upside, it's very hard to forget."

"Yes, thank you so much for sharing."

"I have an idea that will be very easy to execute and will be believable."

"What's that?"

Alexia stood up and said, "I'm going to go out and make my bed on the couch and go to sleep. It may be 5 PM, but I'm tired enough it'll work."

"Emotional stress?"

"Ugh, yes. Very yes. Sleepy end to a long, tedious, and stressful day. Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Don't let the dog lick your face."

"I don't think I have a choice."

**-..*.o**.***

Voldemort opened his eyes and yawned, accidentally waking Quirrell up. Quirrell subconsciously cuddled closer to Voldemort, feeling safe in his arms and comforted by how warm he felt. Voldemort glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was around 8:00, the cursed time where it was too early to be up and too late to fall back asleep. He sighed and fluffed up Quirrell's hair, "Good morning Quirrell."

"Good morning Voldy." Oh shit, Quirrell was feeling affectionate today. Normally that would've been the perfect thing to hear after having a night in with Quirrell, but all Voldemort wanted to do to get away from him to be able to get his stupid raging feelings under control. He should feel happy, relaxed, loving, and caring, not irritated and snappy. What was the matter with him?

"Hey, I need to go and put the dishes away."

"Wha? Can't you stay for a bit?"

"Nope, OCD." Voldemort rolled out of Quirrell's embrace and jogged downstairs to find out that he'd already put the dishes away the night before. Well fuck. He opened the cupboards and pretended to be busy by the time Quirrell made it into the kitchen.

"Voldemort? What's up?"

"I'm arranging our spices, they're in organized by flavor and not alphabetical order and I need to fix it."

"No, Voldemort, it's not that." Quirrell gently put a hand on Voldemort's shoulder and turning him around to face him. "I mean, what's up with you? You've been acting a little weird lately even now that I'm over the flu, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Pfft, of course I'm okay. There's absolutely nothing wrong with me. I'd be much more concerned with what's wrong with _you_." A small part of Voldemort regretted saying that the second it left his mouth, but the majority of him was looking for a fight.

Quirrell was so startled that he dropped his hand off of Voldemort and a trace of his old stutter crept into his speech. "M-me? What? W-what's wrong with me?"

"Well, for one thing, that fucking stutter is annoying, and I had thought it'd stopped by now."

"It h-had before you d-decided to be a j-jerk!"

"Not my fault you earned it."

"W-WHAT?" Quirrell backed up and snapped, "Excuse m-me, but who has the job h-here? Who supports us here? Who loves you and let you use his body for a year until you could get your own? ME! Here I was, th-thinking you accepted me for all of what I am, and now I get this? Merlin, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

"I suppose the one at the top of the list is that I'm stuck with you as a mate."

Quirrell bit down on his lip and felt his eyes fill up, though he didn't let any tears fall. "Why do you hate me all of a sudden? What's going on Voldemort? Just tell me! We're friends, best friends, at that. We're lovers, soul mates, what more do you want; do I need to be more useful? Do I not fulfill your every need or something?"

"There's one way of looking at it." Gone was any compassion and only the overwhelming need to throw everything hurtful at he could at Quirrell.

"I'm doing my best! I can only be myself, what else do you possibly want?"

Then came one of the worst heart breaking moments of Quirrell's entire life.

"What use are you if you can't even bear my children?"


	19. Chapter 21

**Wow it's been forever, sorry guys! I've had quite a bit going on, long story short I was away from this for so long because I spent the summer in Florida and I've been busy working on my other Quirrellmort fic (AVPM Quirrellmort, MAMD Style). Anyways, I wanted to get started on this again, so here's a short chapter, longer one hopefully coming soon. I just started school, so I can't update as often as I'd like, but I am working on it!**

"_What use are you if you can't even bear my children?!"_

Quirrell leaned his arm against the bathroom wall and buried his face in the crook of his arm. He knew it all was too good to be true. Who could ever love something as weak, worthless, and untalented as him? Sobs rose up from his chest and he let it out into his arm, not caring that anyone passing by in the hall might hear. The whole school knew he was a wimp who had soft feelings and was prone to crying as of late, so why not give them another incident to gossip about? His reputation couldn't sink lower at this point anyway.

Four weeks. Four weeks ago Voldemort had said that terrible sentence that broke Quirrell completely. Finally, it was out. Voldemort didn't love or care about him and he was moody from being stuck with him.

Quirrell made Voldemort sleep on the couch the day he snapped, and ever since Voldemort kept up with the small comments and jibes, usually apologizing later but returning to sourness within the next few hours. Alexia made an effort to spend a lot of time at the local library or park because neither Quirrell nor Voldemort had emotions she was keen to pick up on. She usually spent time with Tom outdoors as well, since his home wasn't a pleasant place to be either. Quirrell felt like he was an awful parent for letting things get like this. He tried to show some affection towards her, but there wasn't any denying it:

Voldemort was the center of his universe. Quirrell loved him so deeply that he couldn't bring himself to break them apart. Even with how bad things were going he stuck around with some hope that Voldemort might be able to love him again, assuming he had been loved in the first place. He let himself suffer so badly that his stutter returned for good and he broke down without warning anytime anywhere.

The truth was that Voldemort had been more aggressive in the last few weeks. He shouted more, was reckless, and Quirrell went through his days thinking it was only a matter of time before Voldemort hit him. Quirrell winced whenever Voldemort touched him and he eventually stopped touching him at all, leaving Quirrell in physical and emotional isolation. His universe had turned on him, and outside forces made their way into his troubles as well.

When he first applied for the job at the school many of the teachers seemed polite. If they didn't like him they usually remained neutral in their behavior. However, ever since the time Quirrell had to bolt out of his own classroom due to his eyes watering up, the entire staff seemed to go from neutral to acidic within a few days. Rumors spread like wildfire, and Quirrell found it in his best interest to avoid the staff lounge like the plague. Even some of the students had joined in. Some of the things they said when they thought he wasn't listening put Voldemort's comments to shame.

"_God, what a weakling!"_

"_No wonder he's gay!"_

"_It's a mystery as to why he wasn't drowned like an injured kitten at birth."_

"_He has a partner? Some desperate bloke he must have at home."_

"_What a pussy!"_

"_How isn't he a girl?"_

His sobbing increased and he noticed his sleeve was completely soaked. No one respected or cared about him wherever he went, and if the love of his life's behavior was anything to go by, he didn't deserve it anyway.

"Quirinus?" Quirrell jumped at the sound of a voice behind him and turned to see Ms. Cooter standing behind him with a worried expression. "What's going on?"

"N-n-n-nothing." God, he couldn't even handle people talking to him anymore.

"No, it isn't nothing. Come on, what's going on?"

'She's so sweet to pretend to care about me,' thought Quirrell. "I-i-it's n-nothing you n-need to c-c-care a-bout." He blew his nose on a paper towel and tried to think of a way to get her to leave him alone. "I-i-sn't t-this the w-wrong t-toilet?" For a moment, he panicked and looked around to make sure it was the boy's bathroom and that he hadn't walked into the lady's one on accident. God knows that would've made everything worse.

"Pfft, as if any boy in this school would complain about me being in their bathroom. I came in here because I heard you crying and I'm concerned about you." She put a hand on his shoulder and saw him twitch. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me the specifics, but you can't pretend that everything is okay when it obviously isn't."

"J-just a d-d-difficult time f-for me. P-personal s-stuff."

"That doesn't mean you have to bottle it all up. I care about you, I really do. I don't give a shit about what all the jerks who work here say about you, if that's what you're worried about. I honestly just want to see you happy and healthy again."

Quirrell tried to say he was fine and just started crying harder. Ms. Cooter hugged him and Quirrell couldn't hold back his sobs. It felt wonderful to be held by someone again, but he wished it had been by Voldemort.

"Quirinus?"

"Yes Ms. Cooter?"

"Devin. Devin is better. Anyways, would you let me take you out to lunch? You need a break from work and I want to be able to talk to you in a setting more comfortable than a men's bathroom. Just as friends, my treat."


	20. Chapter 22

"I'll buy you anything you want as long as it doesn't involve alcohol."

Quirrell squired in the passenger seat and said, "Um, I-I'm not h-h-hungry."

"What'd you eat today? If it's anything like the last few weeks, not much."

How the heck did she know? "I-I had some o-oatmeal and h-half of a b-banana th-this morning."

"And that's all you've had for 8 hours. I know you don't feel like eating with what you're going through, but would you please make an effort? Maybe for me?"

Quirrell smiled. "O-okay. A-any suggestions?"

"I'd feed you basically anything as long as I knew you were at least eating something. I've going to list off a bunch of food and you stop me when you hear something you want. Fruit medley, sandwiches, beef stew, salad, steak, pizza, Red Vines, potatoes, coffee, lecho, teriyaki, nachos, burgers, waffles, sushi, pasta, bubble tea, chicken noodle soup, omelets, fish and chips, shrimp, oh come on something must sound good!"

"Uhhh," nothing sounded good. "W-what about l-lecho? I-I've never had it."

Devin brightened up and said, "It's a type of soup. I know the best place for it too!" She sped out of the school parking lot and drove for around 5 minutes or so before arriving at a small diner. Devin leapt out of the car and ran around to open Quirrell's door before he could even get his seatbelt off.

"Haha, thanks." Quirrell managed a smile and got out. Devin took his hand and gave it a squeeze as they went in.

She lead him to a table and said, "Okay Quirinus, you don't look like you're ready to go into detail about what's going on, but whatever it is, you can always come and talk to me."

Quirrell nodded and sniffled. "Th-thank you. B-by the w-way, I-I like to be c-called Quirrell. O-only my p-parents c-call me Quirinus b-because they g-gave me th-that name. Even m-my b-b-b-boyf-friend s-says Q-Quirrell." The sniffle turned into sobs and he couldn't hold it back, even though he had been crying just ten minutes ago.

Devin held his hand again and Quirrell tried to compose himself. "I-I c-can't s-s-s-ay what's wrong, b-but i-it's n-nothing t-to worry a-about."

"Yes it is, Quirrell. You've lost a lot of weight in the past weeks, you never go into the staff room, you're prone to breakdowns, your class is a week behind, yes it is something I'll worry about! I remember you from the beginning of the year. You were new and maybe a bit odd, but people were mostly fine with that. Then you adopt Alexia and everyone thinks it's sweet. Then it turns out you're gay and have a boyfriend and people sass you for it, but then he shows up in what is somehow intimidating rainbow getup and no one bugs you about it since they see that that guy is someone you don't want to mess with. Now all of a sudden you're having trouble teaching, people harass you, you look different, Alexia is having trouble in her classes again, you developed a stutter, and no one stands up for you anymore. I know it has something to do with Joe and whatever it is it isn't getting better.

"I understand that it's hard. I know you can't talk about it yet, but for your sake and Alexia's, please try and get some help for this. Every day I see you I'm relieved to know you haven't done anything drastic but at the same time you look thinner and worn out than before."

"I-it's th-th-that obvious?"

"Yes. The reason I invited you out to lunch isn't so much that the bathroom is a bad place to talk but because I wanted to make sure you got at least one decent meal today."

"I-I d-don't f-feel h-hungry most of th-the time."

"That can happen quite a bit with the sort of thing that's happening to you. You probably feel like you're worthless, that nothing you do matters, and that no one should love you and that even when someone does reach out and acts nice to you, like I am right now, you're never really certain if they're sincere, correct?"

Quirrell stared. "I-it s-s-sounds l-like I d-d-don't n-need t-to tell you a-anything. Y-you know it a-all."

"I've studied things that deal with relationships and depression and the whole bit. It's hard to go through, and I want you to understand that no matter what time it is or what day you can call me and I will pick up and talk to you."

"Th-thank you."

"Lecho for the two of you, if you need anything, call me!" said their waiter.

Quirrell sniffed the soup and decided to try it, mostly because Devin wouldn't stop staring. He picked up his spoon and stirred it around. It looked good, even if he wasn't sure he'd like eating it. He got some on the spoon, blew on it, and put it in his mouth. "Hmmmm, that's good!"

"Great!"

Quirrell felt a bit sick at first because he wasn't used to eating during this time of day and focused on just keeping his food down. He eventually got used to it to and could sort of taste the soup, but he felt queasy enough that he didn't devote much attention to the taste. The meal continued in silence, their only communication were smiles swapped back and forth.

Devin finished, paid for their lunch, and held Quirrell's hand as they walked back out to her car. Quirrell couldn't help smiling and was glad to have eaten something. He'd sort of forgot what it was like to have a decent amount of food in his stomach.

"Thanks for the soup, Devin. I feel much better."

She beamed at him and gave him a hug, "I'm happy to know that you feel comfortable around me."

"Well, why wouldn't I?"

"I didn't think you'd be frightened of me or anything like that, but you've proved that I helped you a lot."

"There's something I'm missing, isn't there?"

"I'm about to jinx it by mentioning it. Ever since we've been outside your stutter hasn't shown up at all."

"W-what? R-really? It w-w-went away?" Quirrell laughed and said, "Oh w-well. A-at least I kn-know I c-can make it g-g-go away again."

They got back to the school and Quirrell looked at the place with more affection than before. "Y-you really have h-helped me quite a b-b-bit D-Devin. I-I f-feel l-like I c-can go in and t-t-teach m-my students again with n-n-no worries."

"Just remember, if anyone teases you about your stutter, don't be afraid to give them detention." Quirrell nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. He got out and strode into his classroom to greet students that were streaming in.

"G-good afternoon, class!" 'Almost gone,' he thought with a smile.

Quirrell walked into his home that afternoon feeling cheerful. He had a great day, and he felt ready to try and be more open with Voldemort. He kicked his shoes off at the door, lined them up perfectly with the other shoes and called out, "H-h-h-hello!" Damn it, it came back.

"Ugh, what the fuck is it?" groaned Voldemort. "I was napping."

"S-s-sorry." Quirrell's confidence and good mood vanished. He could tell that Voldemort was on the couch from the direct his voice came from, so Quirrell ran upstairs to their, or lately, his bedroom and shut the door. For the third time that day he burst into uncontrollable tears. He climbed on the bed and cuddled with the gigantic Fluttershy plushie which in turn made him think even more about the time when Voldemort seemed to love him which made him cry harder.

Quirrell woke up the next morning and felt like he hadn't slept at all. How could someone get 13 hours of sleep and still feel tired? He sighed and pulled himself together for what promised to be another terrible Tuesday and shuffled downstairs.

Voldemort was still asleep on the couch, and through some unspoken consent Alexia and Quirrell did their best to not wake him. The sight of Voldemort frowning in his sleep made Quirrell feel even worse; he hated living here so much his subconscious couldn't conjure up pleasant dreams. Quirrell grabbed a cup of coffee, gulped it down without noticing its taste, and rushed out the door with Alexia right behind him.

Quirrell sat down in the driver's seat and instantly felt worse than before. A whole new day of teasing and teaching a course than no one cared about was ahead of him with a grumpy Voldemort to get home to.

"Quirrell? You can stay home if you want," said Alexia. "I know how you feel, and you need a break."

"H-how a-are you f-feeling?"

"I want to go to school mostly for my art class and so that I can hang out with our amazing librarian. Hey, why do you feel worse?"

"I-I-" Quirrell struggled to keep his voice from cracking. "I-I'm a t-t-terrible p-parent. W-we adopted you s-so th-that we c-c-could give you a g-good h-h-home and m-magical education and b-be l-l-loving a-and s-supp-portive b-but here y-you are and I-I-I'm the one b-breaking d-down and I-I d-don't p-pay enough attention t-to you and I f-f-feel terrible and I'm s-so s-sorry."

"Considering everything you've been through and the fact that you have an eleven year old witch who's an empath, you're doing a great job. Also, I'm not used to being a kid. With the exception of when I was very young, I've never really be taken care of, so I don't know how to need a kick in the pants to get my homework done or reminders for stuff, I know my own shit and I do it." Quirrell hugged her as she continued, "Take the day off and get a break."

"I-I d-d-don't know w-what I-I'd do w-w-with the d-day t-to myself."

"Buy a Kit Kat? I dunno. Maybe get a new book, go for a walk, buy your favorite food, anything that makes you feel better. You could send an owl to Scarfy and ask if he wanted to hang out."

"I-I th-think I'll j-just r-relax t-t-today."

Alexia smiled. "That works too. When I get to school I'll tell them that you're really sick or something and had to go home after you dropped me off. I'll take the bus home so you have more time."

"Th-thanks." Quirrell drove to school and let Alexia out. "I-I'll see y-you l-later."

"Okay. Bye!"

Quirrell sat back in the seat and exhaled. He could do anything he wanted with his day. He didn't feel like doing much and decided that going for a walk sounded like a good idea. Voldemort wouldn't be happy to know that Quirrell skipped work without telling him ahead of time, so Quirrell drove to the local library.

It'd been years since Quirrell had set foot in this muggle library, and it brought on waves of nostalgia as he walked up the brick steps and into the lobby. They still had the children's section behind the adult fiction, all of the non-fiction upstairs, the comics in between the juvenile and children's books, the large fish tank, and the Bookend Café by the door. Quirrell stood in the middle of the lobby and took a few deep breaths. If anything, it felt more like home to him after being away for so long than home did.

He smiled and strolled through each and every section, occasionally picking out a book he thought would be interesting until he had a pile too big to wander around the library with. He speed walked into the café and dumped his books on a table, catching a few glances and chuckles from people around him.

"Hello sir, what would you like today?" asked the employee at the counter.

"Uhh, h-hot ch-chocolate."

"Haha, it must be cold out there. Hot chocolate for 2.25, coming right up!"

Quirrell beamed at the employee who fixed his drink and paid more cheerfully that he normally would have. Someone just mistook his stutter for being cold. Life is good. He went back to his table and spent the remainder of the day either reading in the café or wandering around the library some more to put a book back or to try and find a new one.

By the end of the day Quirrell had 23 books he wanted to check out and a much better mindset about his situation with Voldemort. He had been feeling better earlier just by being in this place, but one quote in a book really made him change his mind. 'All problems are caused by jealousy and/or miscommunication.' It could be argued that that quote isn't true, but it made Quirrell think about why exactly him and Voldemort were the way they were. Voldemort basically knew Quirrell inside and out, and if he doubted anything Quirrell said or did he could simply read his mind. Quirrell had no idea what Voldemort was thinking, and asking nicely didn't seem to work. He was too scared to press Voldemort for details or talk to him at all right now, but Quirrell knew exactly what he had to do when he got home. It wasn't something he looked forward to, but it had to be done.

Quirrell wasn't expecting a warm welcome, but he didn't have a clue why he was greeted with a glare by Voldemort the second he walked through the door.

"W-what's u-u-up?"

"I don't know how you managed to find someone who could stand that stupid stutter, but they're obviously better than I am."

Okay, maybe he didn't know him inside and out. "W-w-what?"

"Why else would you have skipped work today? Have you been going out with them on your lunch breaks too? That'd explain why you're not eating here, you'd rather eat with them."

"W-W-WHAT TH-THE H-HELL A-A-ARE YOU T-TALKING A-A-ABOUT?"

"IT'S OBVIOUS ISN'T IT? YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME!" roared Voldemort.

Quirrell widened his eyes. This couldn't be happening. "Y-yes I-I d-did h-have l-lunch w-with a f-f-friend y-yesterday, but D-Devin is j-just a f-friend."

"Uh-huh, I'm really sold."

"Y-you c-can read m-my m-mind, why c-couldn't y-you s-see it f-for yourself?!"

"I saw enough!" Quirrell blinked tears out of his eyes and bolted upstairs. He couldn't tell if Voldemort was still talking at him, but he could be sure that he didn't want to hear whatever it was.

Quirrell sobbed and walked over to his bookshelf. He searched until he found Voldemort's journal. He grabbed it, sat down on the bed, and opened it to finally discover what was going on.

**27 June, 2009**

Dear Journal,

Hello. My name is Voldemort. Thankfully you're a boring, paper, lifeless, blank book that can't reply, and if I'm honest with myself, it's a relief to be writing in something that isn't magical, as everyone remembers how badly it turned out last time when I put more of my soul into my writing more than anyone should…


	21. Chapter 23

_**27 June, 2009**_

_Dear Journal,_

_Hello. My name is Voldemort. Thankfully you're a boring, paper, lifeless, blank book that can't reply, and if I'm honest with myself, it's a relief to be writing in something that isn't magical, as everyone remembers how badly it turned out last time when I put more of my soul into my writing more than anyone should._

_Anyways, if you could reply, you'd probably be sentient and know who I am, which would lead you to ask, why is the Dark Lord Voldemort keeping a journal? The truth is, the Dark Lord Voldemort isn't keeping a journal because the Dark Lord Voldemort doesn't exist now and never will again. Sure, I'm keeping the name Voldemort because I hate my muggle name, but I'm really nice now. Or at least I'm trying to be._

_You see journal, I moved in with Quirrell a couple of weeks ago and I've been noticing a lot of changes about myself and him. We're officially together, as in, in a relationship, and it's unlike anything I've felt before. Quirrell probably feels the same way, as he's been single all of his life. I love him, and I've been in a very strange heaven ever since we moved in together a few days ago. I never knew that it was possible to feel this much for one person, or to enjoy someone's company to the point of letting my guard down. _

_Not only is Quirrell my best friend, but we found out the day I 'died' that we are mutually attracted to each other. Keep in mind that we've only been together a few days, so physically we haven't done much. Just kissing and cuddling, which Quirrell says he's never had the privilege to do before. It's a bit hard to believe; he's amazing at kissing and he's a nice enough guy you'd think all the ladies and a few boys would be after him. Well, I suppose it's okay that he wasn't popular at school or anything. It just lets me be the one to guide him through everything. _

_Our future plans are pretty simple at the moment. We're in Quirrell's house, which isn't extravagant but is nice enough to be a home. There's no need to find another place to live, and I know that Quirrell would be heartbroken if we moved and left behind all of his flowers and plants. _

_He has quite the garden out back, full of magical and muggle plants. I've never considered herbology or gardening useful or challenging, but my mind was changed as soon as he showed me all of the exotic and dangerous plants he has. Not only does he expertly prune and/or harvest them, but he even talks and coos at them, like they were his harmless violets. It reminds me of Rubeus Hagrid and how he treats his monsters that could go on a rampage and kill off half the Gryffindors at Hogwarts, except that Quirrell is cute about it._

_Anyways, we're going to stay in the house, and since I can't go outside, Quirrell is going to get a job somewhere to support us. Yes, that's right; we'll be living in the muggle world as normal, quiet people. I'll be home doing the cooking and cleaning and making the place nice for Quirrell. That kind of makes me sound like a house wife, but you know what? I'm lucky to be alive right now, and I'm still astonished that Quirrell actually loves me. I'll do anything to get to be here with him._

_That'll be it for now. I'll try and write in this thing a few times a week, assuming I have anything to say._

_**4 July 2009**_

_There really is nothing to write about, but this is my one week anniversary of starting this journal, so yay. I know I'm behind on my schedule of "a few times a week", but as I said, not much to say._

_Quirrell is becoming more and more comfortable around me, which I'm very happy about. He used to jump or twitch a bit whenever I touched him, like if I gave him a hug or a pat on the back. Now he's alright with it and will even initiate contact, which gives me hope that I'll be able to advance things soon. I'm the first person Quirrell has ever been in a relationship with, and I don't want to rush him through this. At the same time, ugh, he's so attractive it's torture not being able to be as intimate as I want._

_I'm not in any danger of pouncing on him and going for it or losing control. It's just that I'm deeply attracted to him and I can't deny that I want to go further. I've been with him for a week and a half, which with anyone else would mean that we'd fucked about 6 or more times by now, but Quirrell is focused on emotions and feelings and taking everything slow. I'm fine with that, different is good, but damn it's frustrating. I'm patient though, I can tell he wants me too, but he'll just take a long time getting to the point where he's okay with it. If nothing else I'm learning how to be gentle and learning how he likes to be kissed._

_Quirrell's been to a couple of job interviews, looking for a teaching post, so fingers crossed that he gets a good position. If not I may have to jinx the employer._

_I'm a little worried about him going out into the muggle world to work. He has to, but I still feel bad about it. Even in the wizarding world Quirrell wasn't well respected, and that was when his magical skill was known. Now in the muggle world all he'll look like is a guy who's pretty charismatic, but is gay, loves flowers and romance novels and is new in town._

_I should stop fretting. Quirrell can handle it._

_**10 July 2009**_

_Quirrell got a job! He's going to be the Myth and Legend teacher over at a local middle school. Luckily he doesn't need to do any research for his class as he knows just about everything in mythology already. _

_On another note, I've been working on my cooking. It's just potion making, right? Well, what I'm doing is. I've been mostly making soups and stew, since they're fairly easy and hard to mess up. My magic isn't what it used to be, and I'm having to make everything the muggle way. I can only do a few spells correctly, so just heating a cauldron of soup is risky._

_I have to say, I love Quirrell, but better me with my messed up magic cooking than him. He puts enough garlic on things to kill a vampire._

_**11 July 2009**_

_Quirrell won at Scrabble with the cunning use of the word 'jukebox', which I didn't believe was a word. I challenged it and lost 106 to 154._

_At least I beat him at chess._

_**17 July 2009**_

_I have about a month and a half before Quirrell starts teaching, and I'm doing my best to enjoy it with him. He doesn't seem to mind, and he makes an effort too. I'll be on my FlooTube account and he'll come over and cuddle, or he'll be reading a book and I'm sit next to him and pester him. What's the point of romance novels once you're in a relationship anyways?_

_We're still getting physically closer. There's an unspoken rule that no hands go below the waist, and as annoying as it is I'm doing my best not to step over a boundary. _

_All of this time spent close to Quirrell has made me notice how thin he is. He looks great skinny, but this is thin to the point of being a little frail. I suppose Azkaban was worse to him than what I originally thought. I'm trying to get him to eat enough to get back to a healthy weight, but he stays pretty much that same no matter what I feed him._

_**21 July 2009**_

_I have never felt happier than this._

_The most absolutely perfect thing I can think of is waking up next to Quirrell. I can hold him and kiss him as the bright summer sun shines in through the window, and the soft cool breeze wafts in. Birds sing outside and everything is calm and peaceful. It's not a feeling I'm used to, and I love it._

_Quirrell. I could go on and on about him. I love him so much, and I don't think I could ever tell him. In fact, I feel more and more in love with him every day, so maybe I don't even know how much I love him. Looking back on my life, I realize that most of the best things I've ever experienced came from a relationship without sex, and it seems that I've been missing out on partnerships like this. However, I'm glad I did, because now I'm with Quirrell, and everything feels fresh and new and Quirrelly. It's __okay good __wonderful._

_Even though Quirrell knows his mythology pretty well, he's been spending a lot of time checking his knowledge and making notes. I wish we could be together without interruptions, but I don't complain (Why would I? Quirrell's the one stuck with the job!). I'll bring him tea or a blanket if he wants one, poor skinny thing. It's summer and he gets cold. _

_I don't think I'll be writing for awhile. There isn't much to report._

_**6 August 2009**_

_It happened. It really happened._

_Last night, Quirrell officially lost his virginity. August 5__th__ shall forever be marked in my memory as the day that Quirrell and I became fully together physically and we had nothing to hide from one another (not like there was anything about him that I didn't already know, but being in his body and touching it are totally different)._

_It was, well, he lost his virginity. Most of someone's first time is spent asking if everything's okay or if someone's uncomfortable and everything is a lot gentler than usual. It's fine though. I was nervous myself, because I didn't want to hurt him, and it was my first time with a guy too._

_I now believe Scarfy when he said that I was bisexual but in denial. Well, out of denial now. Sure I have my Zefron crush, but doesn't everyone?_

_Oh Rowling, last night though, wow, Quirrell can REALLY…. (unrepeatable)_

_**8 August 2009**_

_Long story short, a replay of August 5__th__ happened on the couch, and either Quirrell goes and buys some magical soap or that middle cushion is going to the dry cleaners._

_**1 September 2009**_

_For the first time in my life, I hate this day. Back when I was a student it marked the day I finally got out of the orphanage and was off to Hogwarts. After I graduated it didn't mean much aside from nostalgia, but now it's just depressing._

_I knew Quirrell getting a job was going to leave me bored and lonely, but this hurts more than I thought. I miss him, a lot. Good thing he gets home a little after two. I'll go and do something nice for him, make this more of a home._

_**15 September 2009**_

_The muggles at the school must really troublesome; Quirrell gets home exhausted almost every day. I make sure to have a hot meal ready for him when he gets home (thankfully he likes soup) and I'll do anything he wants to do, as he has long days. He tells me he actually likes his job, which is a little hard to believe. I think he might do this to make me feel better. I know I wouldn't be happy if I had to work at a muggle school._

_Why do muggle teachers have meetings anyways? They just make the day longer and come on, what is there to discuss, coffee flavors? Hogwarts meetings were for emergencies or discussing who recently got expelled or things like that. The meetings Quirrell is stuck going to are pointless, and they're not allowed to skip._

_Well, I'm still here, and I make his day as best as possible, whether it's a walk through the garden, a movie, or just cuddling._

_**26 September 2009**_

_Today is Quirrell's birthday! We decided that I shouldn't be outside of our property this soon and just hung out here. Turns out there's a nice soft patch of grass in the backyard that's perfect for lying down and making out on. It's comfy, the grass and the flowers smell nice, and Quirrell always looks happier when he's around his plants._

_I can't go out and get Quirrell anything, and my magic is finicky, but I did manage to give him something. I took a bunch of small pebbles from the driveway out front, and using a tricky little charm that took me a few tries to get right, I changed the dull gray rocks into shining multicolored stones everywhere from pearly coral to a deep sea green. They're pretty, if I do say so myself, and Quirrell loved them. He keeps them in a small drawstring pouch that used to be for potion ingredients and has the pouch on his person at all times for good luck. _

_Quirrell really deserves more than that, but since he wasn't expecting to get any sort of gift I suppose its fine for now. We're thinking that in a few months, after everything has died down and everyone believes I'm dead, that I can try leaving and going out into the crowded muggle public. _

_Okay, I'll say it. I'll answer that unspoken question. Yes, we did make love today._

_**9 October 2009**_

_Quirrell likes surprising me, and what he does is usually fun and nice. He'll bring some special food or spices home, he'll get a movie neither of us has seen, he'll put flowers in a vase on the table to brighten the place up, he'll do something adorable that I've never seen before (like read to his houseplants and other plants outside), things like that. Maybe he'll bring a puppy home someday._

_But since I'm me and my life can never be normal, instead of a puppy, he walked in with an unconscious kid in his arms._

_I've seen plenty of unconscious kids in my day, but this? Really? We're living normally in the muggle world, and somehow Quirrell accidentally knocks out a kid at the school. That sounds more like something I would do._

_This is bad, right? It gets worse. Apparently this girl is a witch who is not able to go to Hogwarts and has some problems at home. I'm not a sucker for sob stories and I was about to demand that he toss her out before she wakes up to report me being alive, but then he mentioned that she can feel magical auras._

_Woah. Someone who can sense magical auras? She woke up and I found out even more about her. Her name is Alexia and she's an empath. Her parents died in a car crash (seems to be a popular way to go) and they somehow converted the Ministry's Trace into a spell that keeps her from attending any major magic schools. Weird, right?_

_Of course, with parents that clever she's a pureblood. They put that curse on her so she'd be homeschooled and therefore receive the best magical education possible. That's sort of arrogant sounding to me, thinking that you can give your kid a better education than all of Hogwarts' teachers, but whatever. _

_She's stuck living with an uncle who couldn't care less about her and won't educate her in magic whatsoever. After she told us all this stuff we let her stay in the spare bedroom and Quirrell and I had a talk._

_Quirrell was being a sweetie and wants to take her in because he thinks that we can teach her and that she'd have a safe home here. I want someone to train. I didn't apply for the Dark Arts job for nothing way back when at Hogwarts and this would be the perfect opportunity for me to teach someone._

_FINE. The kid's cute and I have a heart. A beat up, cold, inexperienced heart, but it's in there._

_Tommorow I shall prepare a curriculum and we'll see how this goes…_


	22. Chapter 24

Quirrell finished reading Voldemort's journal and stared it at. First he was loving and sweet, and as time went by he was still nice and he seemed to like Quirrell but he had bad moods often when Quirrell was around and all love for him would vanash, up to this very day. Voldemort was just as confused by his mood swings as Quirrell was and hadn't talked to Quirrell about it because he didn't want him to know. Quirrell didn't known whether to be relieved that he wasn't trying to do it on purpose or depressed that he wasn't closer to knowing why Voldemort was acting the way he was. He closed the journal and sighed. He may as well go and talk to Voldemort and tell him what he had learned and see if he could sort things out.

At that very moment, Voldemort opened the door of the bedroom. What he had came up there for Quirrell would never know, because Voldemort gasped when he saw his journal in Quirrell's hands.

"Voldemort, I-"

Voldemort drew back his fist and punched Quirrell right in his left eye, hissing with fury as he did so. Quirrell let out a strangled cry and fell back onto the bed. He sat up and didn't hold back his tears as he did so. "W-Why? V-Voldemort, I kn-kn-know w-what's g-g-going on."

Voldemort stared at Quirrell and blinked. He looked down at his fist and then at Quirrell. Quirrell couldn't explain it, but the way Voldemort was looking at him made him think that Voldemort hadn't truly seen him for months. His eyes grew wide and he croaked, "Quirrell."

As he stared at Quirrell, Voldemort's eyes grew sadder and sadder, "Oh my God, what have I done?"

Voldemort's body spasmed and he collapsed on the floor with the highest scream of pain Quirrell had ever heard. He spasmed again, this time his back arched as he shrieked longer than before. "Voldemort?" "VOLDEMORT? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" he shouted over Voldemort's screams. He knelt down by Voldemort and was going to pick him up and put him on the bed when he heard Alexia scream downstairs.

Quirrell threw open the door and ran downstairs to see Alexia lying on the kitchen floor crying harder than he had ever seen her cry. He scooped her up and ran into the dungeon with her. He shut the door and propped her up against a wall. "Alexia? What happened? Are you okay?"

"Would you please kill me?"

"Alexia, don't talk like that!"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THAT FELT!" she roared. She bit her lip and continued crying. "I wanted to die so much. I'd never felt that much pain before in my whole life. Quirrell, you have to go up there and stay by him, I don't know what's happening to him, but it's bad. Really bad. Emotionally, his soul is being tortured. He needs you."

"What about you?"

"I'll be okay, there's food here and a sleeping bag and romance novels and Belinda and Alice. I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Go and comfort him!" Quirrell stood up to leave but not before Alexia said, "He loves you, Quirrell. He really does. You mean the world to him, and he's going to die if you're not with him as he goes through this." She tossed him a bottle of water. "Now GO."

Quirrell sprinted upstairs, still confused about what was happening to Voldemort. He arrived in time to hear Voldemort start on another long and bloodcurdling scream. Quirrell sat down by him and could only watch as Voldemort thrashed and tore his vocal chords. Tears were pouring out of Voldemort's eyes and Quirrell felt himself wanting to cry. The thrashing ebbed and Quirrell figured it was his best shot at getting Voldemort onto the bed.

In one swift movement Quirrell was sure he was going to regret, he swept Voldemort off of the floor and got him onto the bed. Voldemort didn't appear to have even noticed that he'd moved. He groaned painfully, rolled onto his side, and coughed up blood onto their bedspread. Quirrell winced both from his exertion and from Voldemort ruining the quit. He thought that he'd seen the worst of it until Voldemort vomited so much blood that it reached some of the sheets a few blanket layers down and some of it landed on the floor. Without further ado Voldemort threw his head back and let out an inhuman sound from his sore throat that sounded even worse than the screams and jerked about so violently that it shook the bed.

Quirrell sat down on the non bloody side of the bed beside Voldemort and stroked his hair. "Voldemort, I don't know what's going on, but I'm here for you, okay? I love you." He didn't think Voldemort had heard him, but when he stopped moving and trying to yell, Voldemort rolled over to face him. Voldemort stared directly into Quirrell's face and let out a mournful wail of anguish.

"I know it hurts, I mean, duh, you can't even talk right now, but I mean, I'm here. I'm not mad at you. I'm really not. I'm concerned and scared. I'm scared of what's happening to you and why you're in so much pain, and I'm scared of you." Voldemort opened his mouth as if he was going to try and talk but instead his head snapped back and another bout of spasms and noises and tears came.

Over the next ten minutes two more horrible spasms struck and then Voldemort was still. He was crying and moaning but the writhing had stopped.

"Voldemort?" Quirrell gently cupped his face with his left hand while massaging his head with his right. "I've got you. I love you and I'm not leaving. Do you need some water?"

Voldemort took in a deep breath, let out a rough cough and whispered, "I don't deserve you. I don't deserve to live, much less have you. I'm so sorry. Quirrell I hurt you so much-"

"Shhh, I'm here. It's okay."

"No it isn't."

"You'll be fine, you just need to rest."

"NOTHING IS OKAY AND EVERYTHING HURTS I'VE MURDERED AND HURT PEOPLE WHY AM I HERE?" Voldemort launched into a coughing fit and Quirrell grabbed the water bottle. He waited for Voldemort to finish before unscrewing the cap and pouring some into Voldemort's mouth. Voldemort drank some and then, to Quirrell's surprise, started laughing hysterically.

"Voldemort? What's going on? I'm confused! You're scaring me what the fuck happened to you?!"

"You're giving me water. Reminds me of the old days when I was on the back of your head, being a power crazed nincompoop who didn't know much of anything."

"Yeah." Quirrell smiled and then turned serious again. "Really though. What happened to you? You started screaming and flailing and I don't know why."

Voldemort tried to sit up, sucked in a sharp breath and decided to continue lying down. "What do you know about Horcruxes?"

"You kill someone, put a piece of your soul into something that then become very hard to destroy, and if you die and have a Horcrux then your soul will stay in this world even though your body is dead. It's very painful to tear your soul. That's all I know."

"Yes, and that's all accurate. But, there is a way to undo Horcruxes, or at least make your soul complete."

"Really?"

"Yes. You have to feel remorse. You have to be truly sorry for what you've done." Voldemort smiled humorlessly. "As you can see, it's quite painful."

"You-you felt remorse? Like, after all this time it just hit you half an hour ago?"

"Sort of. I've been feeling odd for the past couple of months, as you've noticed. I got mood swings, usually on the bitchy side, and I swear I will spend the rest of my life regretting the things I said to you. Anyways, I think my soul was sort of preparing to start healing like, it made me feel all odd because I was feeling emotions and sensations I hadn't felt before, or at least hadn't felt in a very long time. And-and earlier when I-I punched you, it-it triggered everything. And you saw what happened." Voldemort closed his eyes and started sobbing.

"Um, does it still hurt? Is there anything you can do?"

"Quirrell. Do you really think I'll ever get over this? I killed people. I just got hit with the burn of guilt from tearing families apart, spreading fear, torturing good people who's souls were purer than mine will ever be."

Quirrell held Voldemort's hand. "Alexia told me that you would die if I wasn't here with you."

"Alexia?" Voldemort bolted up and let out a shout. "AH! Ow. Is she okay? Oh my God she would felt everything!"

"She's fine. Apparently the door to the basement blocks out emotions and sounds. I didn't get to her quite in time, though, the second time you shrieked was when I got down there and put her in the dungeon."

Voldemort looked even more broken than before. "What I went through was not for anyone else to feel."

They sat in silence for awhile before Quirrell said, "So, all of the damage was emotional, but it was so bad your body reacted violently?"

"Yeah. And, um, Alexia was right. Even if I had made it through the seven spasms I got from my Horcruxes I probably wouldn't have made it without knowing you were here. After getting every evil thing I'd ever done thrown in my face for me to rewatch and experience in a whole new agonizing way I probably would have killed myself if you weren't here." Voldemort looked directly into Quirrell's eyes. "I'm a terrible person Quirrell. I am the worst human being you've ever met, and yet you, sweet and caring you, chose me out of everyone on the planet to be your soul mate. Why do you love me? Look me in the eyes and honestly tell me why I'm worth the trouble."

Quirrell squeezed Voldemort's hand and said, "I love you because, well, its hard to explain. We started as friends after we had that night in Hogsmeade together, but I think I really started to love you in the graveyard. I saw you be the person you really wanted to be, a tap dancing guy who likes having a good time. You went through with your plans, but, I saw what made you happy. I saw that deep down you really don't like what you do and that it's really all for the reputation and pleasing your followers. I don't like it, and there was no excuse for it. Now though, you've changed. You're more the person who started tap dancing the minute he got his body back, and less the guy who kills people because he's chasing an empty dream of ruling the world. In fact, in light of your remorse attack, I think you're becoming entirely the man I feel in love with a year ago."

Voldemort sniffled. "And even after what I did to you, you still want me?"

"Of course! I was actually worried than you didn't want _me._"

"What? Oh my god Quirrell! I'm the one who doesn't deserve love, not you! You're kind and loving-"

"And whimpy, and girly, and dumb."

"Quirrell-"

"Everyone at work says it too! Even some of the students!"

"Well they're a bunch of dicks. Because yes, you do have some girly qualities, but being sensitive isn't a bad thing. You love flowers, plants, romance novels, romantic movies, and you wear perfume. So what? It's a part of yourself that's pretty prominent and you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself. Take your perfume for example. It smells like flowers and fresh rain. Why do you wear it? Because you love that smell and they don't have any good floral scents in the men's department. You like romantic things. Why? Because they explore feelings and emotions and love deeper than other genres and if people were smart they'd be just like you. You're a deep and sensitive person and anybody who makes fun of you, past me included, is stupid."

"You mean it?" whispered Quirrell.

"Yes." Voldemort's arm twitched and he sighed. "Damn it. This would be the part where I pull you in and kiss you, but I'm too sore to move."

"I guess I'll have to help you." Quirrell smiled and swung a leg over Voldemort's body. He got up on his knees, wrapped his arms around Voldemort's neck, and for the first time in weeks, kissed him.

Quirrell shivered as his lips touched Voldemort's. He closed his eyes and sucked on Voldemort's top lip, feeling Voldemort take his bottom one at the same time. Quirrell opened his mouth against Voldemort's and was instantly rewarded with Voldemort's tongue. He moaned and tilted his head, deepening the kiss as he went. Despite how much it must have hurt, Quirrell felt Voldemort slowly reach up and ruffle his hair.

They were far from perfect, but they were okay. One step closer to becoming the soul mates and lover they had once been.


	23. Chapter 25

**To the anon who panicked about the story being over, fear not! When I end this it will be very clearly marked. Also, I will likely write an Afterwards/author's note at the end. Enjoy the chapter and please review! I love always love hearing your guys' thoughts on my writing, they make my day.**

Quirrell cleaned the bedspread and the sheets before lying down next to Voldemort. "How're you feeling?"

"Like a wreck."

"Can I get you anything? A potion for your pain?"

"Sure." Quirrell went down to the basement to find Alexia asleep in the sleeping bag. He went through their potion shelves and grabbed the wizard equivalent of Advil.

Alexia stirred in her sleep and woke up. "I'm glad he's feeling better. You're doing better too."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

She stood up and said, "Can I come upstairs with you? I want to feel your guys' loveydovey emotions before I go to sleep again."

"Alright." Alexia, Alice, Belinda, and Quirrell all came into Quirrell and Voldemort's bedroom.

"Alexia, I'm sorry you had to feel my, er 'remorse attack'."

"You're better now, and so am I." Voldemort nodded and drank his potion.

"Hey Quirrell."

"Yes Voldy?"

"The potion will take awhile to really help, and I can't really move or do much, so, I was wondering if you might want to read to me."

"Oooh, can you read to me too?" asked Alexia. "Alice wants to hear a story too."

_'And ssssso do I,'_ hissed Belinda.

Quirrell looked at all of them and laughed, "Guess I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" He walked over to his large bookshelf and scanned the titles. "We'll want something short because everyone's had a bad day. Hmm, how do you guys feel about a fairytale?"

"Go for it," said Voldemort. "It's been about half a century since I've heard one of those."

Quirrell pulled out a copy of _the Tales of Beedle the Bard._ "Okay everyone, make yourselves comfy."

"I won't be comfy until you get over here and snuggle close to me," said Voldemort. Quirrell smiled and sat beside Voldemort. "Much better." Alexia laid down on the over side of Quirrell and held Alice. Only Wizard god knows where Belinda went.

"Are we all set?" asked Quirrell. Everyone nodded. "Okay. From the Tales of Beedle the Bard, Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump."

"That's the stupidest title I've ever heard," said Voldemort.

"Shut up or I won't read. Anyways, here's the story."

"A long time ago, in a far-off land, there lived a foolish king who decided that he alone should have the power of magic.

He therefore commanded the head of his army to form a Brigade of Witch-Hunters, and issued them with a pack of ferocious black hounds. At the same time, the King caused proclamations to be read in every village and town across the land: "Wanted by the King, an Instructor in Magic."

No true witch or wizard dared volunteer for the post, for they were all in hiding from the Brigade of Witch-Hunters.

However, a cunning charlatan with no magical power saw a chance of enriching himself, and arrived at the palace, claiming to be a wizard of enormous skill. The charlatan performed a few simple tricks, which convinced the foolish King of his magical powers, and was immediately appointed Grand Sorcerer in Chief, the King's Private Magic Master.

The charlatan bade the King give him a large sack of gold, so that he might purchase wands and other magical necessities. He also requested several large rubies, to be used in the casting of curative charms, and a silver chalice or two, for the storing and maturing of potions. All these things the foolish King supplied.

The charlatan stowed the treasure safely in his own house and returned to the palace grounds.

He did not know that he was being watched by an old woman who lived in a hovel on the edge of the grounds. Her name was Babbitty, and she was the washerwoman who kept the palace linens soft, fragrant and white. Peeping from behind her drying sheets, Babbitty saw the charlatan snap two twigs from one of the King's trees and disappear into the palace.

The charlatan gave one of the twigs to the King and assured him that it was a wand of tremendous power.

"It will only work, however," said the charla tan, "when you are worthy of it."

Every morning the charlatan and the foolish King walked out into the palace grounds, where they waved their wands and shouted nonsense at the sky. The charlatan was careful to perform more tricks, so that the King remained convinced of his Grand Sorcerer's skill, and of the power of the wands that had cost so much gold.

One morning, as the charlatan and the foolish King were twirling their twigs, and hopping in circles, and chanting meaningless rhymes, a loud cackling reached the King's ears. Babbitty the washerwoman was watching the King and the charlatan from the window of her tiny cottage, and was laughing so hard she soon sank out of sight, too weak to stand.

"I must look most undignified, to make the old washerwoman laugh so!" said the King. He ceased his hopping and twig twirling, and frowned. "I grow weary of practice! When shall I be ready to perform real spells in front of my subjects, Sorcerer?"

The charlatan tried to soothe his pupil, assuring him that he would soon be capable of astonishing feats of magic, but Babbitty's cackling had stung the foolish King more than the charlatan knew.

"Tomorrow," said the King, "we shall invite our court to watch their King perform magic!"

The charlatan saw that the time had come to take his treasure and flee.

"Alas, Your Majesty, it is impossible! I had forgotten to tell Your Majesty that I must set out on a long journey tomorrow –"

"If you leave this palace without my permis sion, Sorcerer, my Brigade of Witch-Hunters will hunt you down with their hounds! Tomorrow morning you will assist me to perform magic for the benefit of my lords and ladies, and if anybody laughs at me, I shall have you beheaded!"

The King stormed back to the palace, leaving the charlatan alone and afraid. Not all his cunning could save him now, for he could not run away, nor could he help the King with magic that neither of them knew.

Seeking a vent for his fear and his anger, the charlatan approached the window of Babbitty the washerwoman. Peering inside, he saw the little old lady sitting at her table, polishing a wand. In a corner behind her, the King's sheets were washing themselves in a wooden tub.

The charlatan understood at once that Babbitty was a true witch, and that she who had given him his awful problem could also solve it.

"Crone!" roared the charlatan. "Your cackling has cost me dear! If you fail to help me, I shall denounce you as a witch, and it will be you who is torn apart by the King's hounds!"

Old Babbitty smiled at the charlatan and assured him that she would do everything in her power to help.

The charlatan instructed her to conceal herself inside a bush while the King gave his magical display, and to perform the King's spells for him, without his knowledge. Babbitty agreed to the plan but asked one question.

"What, sir, if the King attempts a spell Babbitty cannot perform?"

The charlatan scoffed.

"Your magic is more than equal to that fool's imagination," he assured her, and he retired to the castle, well pleased with his own cleverness.

The following morning all the lords and ladies of the kingdom assembled in the palace grounds. The King climbed on to a stage in front of them, with the charlatan by his side.

"I shall firstly make this lady's hat disappear!" cried the King, pointing his twig at a noble woman.

From inside a bush nearby, Babbitty pointed her wand at the hat and caused it to vanish. Great was the astonishment and admiration of the crowd, and loud their applause for the jubilant King.

"Next, I shall make that horse fly!" cried the King, pointing his twig at his own steed.

From inside the bush, Babbitty pointed her wand at the horse and it rose high into the air.

The crowd was still more thrilled and amazed, and they roared their appreciation of their magical King.

"And now," said the King, looking all around for an idea; and the Captain of his Brigade of Witch-Hunters ran forwards.

"Your Majesty," said the Captain, "this very morning, Sabre died of eating a poisonous toadstool! Bring him back to life, Your Majesty, with your wand!"

And the Captain heaved on to the stage the lifeless body of the largest of the witch-hunting hounds.

The foolish King brandished his twig and pointed it at the dead dog. But inside the bush, Babbitty smiled, and did not trouble to lift her wand, for no magic can raise the dead.

When the dog did not stir, the crowd began first to whisper, and then to laugh. They suspected that the King's first two feats had been mere tricks after all.

"Why doesn't it work?" the King screamed at the charlatan, who bethought himself of the only ruse left to him.

"There, Your Majesty, there!" he shouted, pointing at the bush where Babbitty sat concealed. "I see her plain, a wicked witch who is blocking your magic with her own evil spells! Seize her, somebody, seize her!"

Babbitty fled from the bush, and the Brigade of Witch-Hunters set off in pursuit, unleashing their hounds, who bayed for Babbitty's blood. But as she reached a low hedge, the little witch vanished from sight, and when the King, the charlatan and all the courtiers gained the other side, they found the pack of witch-hunting hounds barking and scrabbling around a bent and aged tree.

"She has turned herself into a tree!" screamed the charlatan and, dreading lest Babbitty turn back into a woman and denounce him, he added, "Cut her down, Your Majesty, that is the way to treat evil witches!"

An axe was brought at once, and the old tree was felled to loud cheers from the courtiers and the charlatan.

However, as they were making ready to return to the palace, the sound of loud cackling stopped them in their tracks.

"Fools!" cried Babbitty's voice from the stump they had left behind.

"No witch or wizard can be killed by being cut in half! Take the axe, if you do not believe me, and cut the Grand Sorcerer in two!"

The Captain of the Brigade of Witch-Hunters was eager to make the experiment, but as he raised the axe the charlatan fell to his knees, screaming for mercy and confessing all his wickedness. As he was dragged away to the dungeons, the tree stump cackled more loudly than ever.

"By cutting a witch in half, you have unleashed a dreadful curse upon your kingdom!" it told the petrified King. "Henceforth, every stroke of harm that you inflict upon my fellow witches and wizards will feel like an axe stroke in your own side, until you will wish you could die of it!"

At that, the King fell to his knees too, and told the stump that he would issue a proclama tion at once, protecting all the witches and wizards of the kingdom, and allowing them to practise their magic in peace.

"Very good," said the stump, "But you have not yet made amends to Babbitty!"

"Anything, anything at all!" cried the foolish King, wringing his hands before the stump.

"You will erect a statue of Babbitty upon me, in memory of your poor washerwoman, and to remind you for ever of your own foolishness!" said the stump.

The King agreed to it at once, and promised to engage the foremost sculptor in the land, and have the statue made of pure gold. Then the shamed King and all the noblemen and women returned to the palace, leaving the tree stump cackling behind them.

When the grounds were deserted once more, there wriggled from a hole between the roots of the tree stump a stout and whiskery old rabbit with a wand clamped between her teeth. Babbitty hopped out of the grounds and far away, and ever after a golden statue of the washerwoman stood upon the tree stump, and no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again."

Quirrell closed the book. "Sooooo, this is one of the classic wizarding stories that many children from magical families grow up with. Thoughts?"

"Nice story," said Voldemort.

"Yeah," said Alexia. "Weird, but nice. It's interesting to hear fairy tales from the wizarding standpoint. What did you think, Alice?"

'It's actually my favorite story, since it's about my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother.'


	24. Chapter 26

**Hey everyone!**

This is not an update, but in light of A Very Potter Senior Year I fell to the need to make a quick note.

I have read the whole script and listened to the songs and I'd love to talk to any if you about it, BUT I need to ask you guys to please not post reviews with any spoilers for awhile for everyone who doesn't get the chance to read it right away (maybe wait a couple weeks or so) I don't think anyone would but I'd feel better just to ask anyways.

Speaking of AVPSY I also want you guys to know that pretty much nothing in the fanfic is going to change. There is one minor thing I'm going to add but it's far out there and even if people haven't seen AVPSY not a huge deal.

I am on hiatus right now until mid January but I will be back and updating then :D I will still talk to people when I pop in but I just won't be writing will everything I have going in right now.

PS I typed this on my phone so if anything came out really funky I apologize.


	25. Chapter 27

**I've made you all wait far too long for this. If you've made it this far and am still with me, I love you more than you'll ever know. However, I am not psychic, so please leave a review so I know who I love and what you do/don't like, after all, me writing this story is mostly for your benefit, I already know everything that happens!**

**This chapter has a bit of a special dedication to my real life Weasly family: Draco, Pansy, Neville, Voldemort, Pettigrew, and Molly. You guys are a huge inspiration to me, and if you ever get into the Starkid fandom and read this, know you guys have inspired me beyond words.**

**Without further ado, the fanfic:**

"WHAT?" blurted out Alexia.

"What what?" asked Quirrell.

"Alice just told me that Babbity rabbity is her great-great-great-great grandmother!"

'_It's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother.'_

"Oh shut it," muttered Alexia. She turned to Quirrell and Voldemort. "How is that even possible?"

"Well," said Quirrell. "It actually explains a lot. Alice has intelligence equal to that of humans, can somehow communicate with you, and I dunno, it just seems to fit."

'_Babbity Rabbity had children while in her rabbit form, and those children and their descendants have the ability to understand humans and communicate with some of them, but I don't know why I can only talk to Alexia and not anyone else.'_

Alexia relayed what Alice said to Voldemort and Quirrell and added, "So I guess we know her ancestry, but nothing else about it."

"Seems that way. Also, we know that this story is apparently true too," said Quirrell. "What do you think, Voldemort?"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz." Voldemort had fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation and was now making soft raspy snores.

Quirrell smiled at him and gave Voldemort's hand a light squeeze. Without looking away he said, "Goodnight Alexia. Sleep well, and if you need anything, just come in here."

"Okay. Goodnight Quirrell." Alexia hugged him and walked out of the room holding Alice and Belinda.

Quirrell picked up his wand and with the help of a couple of cleaning spells got the bedspread and floor blood-free. He carefully pulled the covers out from beneath Voldemort and flipped them over himself and Voldemort. Quirrell snuggled up to Voldemort's sleeping body and whispered, "Goodnight. I love you. Please get better soon."

However, as much as Quirrell believed Voldemort was healing and everything was going to be okay, his subconscious was more pessimistic.

Voldemort was woken up at some ungodly hour of night by Quirrell shaking beside him and sobbing. For a moment he felt the urge to shake Quirrell awake, but he decided to try something different. If the nightmare was truly this bad, Quirrell wouldn't mind if he saw it, so he could really get close to him and help him out of it. Voldemort pressed his forehead against Quirrell's and gently entered Quirrell's mind to see what was wrong.

Quirrell was standing in some sort of ice desert, like he was in Antarctica or Hoth. As far as Voldemort could see there was snow, snow, more snow, and the horizon. Quirrell wasn't wearing anything but his Azkaban nightie and he looked extremely cold. He collapsed on the ground and started digging in the snow, like a fox frantically trying to find its previously caught prey. Voldemort's heart skipped a beat when he saw what Quirrell was looking for.

Voldemort's ghostly pale face was revealed by Quirrell's digging. His eyes were closed, and he had been preserved so well by the cold that he looked perfect beneath the ice that still stuck to him. Quirrell sobbed as he stared at Voldemort's dead body and stroked his face with a frozen hand that Voldemort was sure felt numb. Quirrell was suffering so badly that Voldemort was going to run up to him and pull him out of his dream when Quirrell started talking, and Voldemort observed, hoping to hear exactly why Quirrell would dream something like this.

"I love you, you know. You're gone forever, but I still love you. The dementors are after me, but I couldn't help coming to the place I managed to bury your body before the Ministry could burn it or something. I escaped Azkaban just to be with you, b-b-b-but I w-w-w-was t-t-too l-late." Quirrell began crying in earnest. "D-D-DID YOU EVER WANT ME?" he howled. "Y-Y-YOU THREW ME AWAY A-A-AND ALL I C-COULD THINK OF W-WAS YOU. I L-L-L-OVE Y-YOU, A-AND Y-Y-YOU A-A-AND TH-THE R-REST OF TH-THE W-WORLD _HATE_ ME!" Quirrell laid down on the ground by Voldemort and looked like the most broken human being on the planet. "Wh-wh-who w-w-was I-I-I k-kid-d-ding? Oo-only t-th-the d-d-dem-m-ment-t-tors w-want t-t-t-o k-kiss me."

Voldemort couldn't take any more. With a little concentration, he walked into Quirrell's dream as himself. He bent down and pulled Quirrell up. Quirrell didn't appear to have noticed he was standing and continued crying.

"Quirrell, look at me. It's okay, I'm here, this is a dream." Quirrell gasped and gazed into Voldemort's eyes. "It's just a dream, I've got you."

"I want to believe you, but I can't," whispered Quirrell.

Voldemort closed his eyes and wracked his brain for a way to prove to Quirrell that he was real. Perhaps if Voldemort said something he'd never said before Quirrell would know it was him, because he hadn't heard Voldemort say it and therefore his brain couldn't conjure it. He hugged Quirrell tightly and said, "I love you, Quirinus. Now come with me, I need you to wake up."

When Voldemort opened his eyes he found himself back in bed holding Quirrell, who was still miserable and shaking.

"I'm sorry I intruded on your privacy, but I needed to know what made you so upset. I-I, I never knew your nightmares were so bad, why didn't you ever tell me?"

Quirrell bit his lip and panted harshly before replying, "I-I th-th-though-t-t it'd j-j-just m-make m-me w-weak-ker, n-need-ding s-s-so m-much r-reas-surance. I-I th-ought y-you m-might m-m-make my n-nightm-mares c-c-come t-true a-and g-g-g-get f-fed u-u-p w-with m-me a-a-and l-leave." He couldn't hold back and burst into tears again as Voldemort held him close and tried to find a good way of reassuring Quirrell in a way he hadn't before.

Hmm, Quirrell seemed to be mainly embarrassed because he was showing weakness and being soft, and he thought Voldemort's love would run out after so much of these horrible times he needed to be comforted. Lightbulb.

"I have nightmares too, you know," murmured Voldemort.

"Bb-b-but y-you don't f-fall t-t-to pieces bb-b-b-because o-of th-them."

"Oh, but I do. I just always had them during my time sleeping on the couch and I couldn't bring myself to talk about them with you when I was being so hurtful to you, I knew I might turn sour after talking to you and I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you more, even though I wasn't in a mood. And, I think in light of what you dream, you need to see what I dream, so, well, the dream'll explain it."

"Oo-o-okay." Voldemort ruffled Quirrell's hair, got a hold of their magical connection and sent Quirrell his dream for him to watch.

Voldemort was seated in a throne-like chair in the middle of a rather large and empty room. Nagini circled his feet and slithered up the back of the chair. The chair faced a door directly on the wall opposite it. He appeared to be waiting for someone to walk in, and in a few moments several people did.

Bellatrix, Lucius, Yaxley, Macnair, Fenrir, and a figure who was wearing his hood like a cowl over his face strolled into the room. To Quirrell, the whole thing just looked like another Death Eater meeting.

Bellatrix was the first to fall to the floor in a bow, and all the others followed her moments after.

"What do you have to report?" Voldemort growled. Quirrell shivered; he forgot what Voldemort sounded like when he used to be a dark lord.

"My lord, I baked you a cherry pie," purred Bellatrix, and out of nowhere a pie appeared in front of her. She reverently handed it to Voldemort and said, "I hope it pleases you. I am your most faithful."

"We'll see about that." Bellatrix looked offended but knew when to keep her mouth shut. She knelt back down and Lucius scooted forward.

"I'm sorry, but we have nothing to report. Harry Potter has done well in hiding from us yet again, despite all of our, and your, best efforts."

"Lucius!" shouted Bellatrix. "Get your smelly feet out of my face!"

"No!"

"Go clean the barbeque or something, just get out of my way!"

"I have just as much of a right to be here as you do, Bella. If anyone ought to leave it should be the damn werewolf."

"Hay!" growled Fenrir.

"Can't we just all be friends?" asked Yaxley, glancing nervously between all the arguing members.

"I dunno, I could use some excitement," smiled Macnair.

"I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GOING TO CUT YOUR SMELLY FEET OFF!" roared Bellatrix. Quirrell felt slightly repulsed at having to see Bellatrix again but he couldn't help smiling at the absurdity of the dream.

"SHUT UP!" All of the Death Eaters fell silent. Voldemort didn't appear to have listened to any of their conversation as he'd just been staring at the hooded person who hadn't spoken at all. "Everyone leave me, except for you, Quirrell." The real Quirrell twitched as he heard his name and his dream counterpart flipped his hood back. The other Death Eaters trouped out of the room looking mildly sulky, and Quirrell suspected they'd continue their bickering outside.

Death Eater Quirrell gazed up at Voldemort with a blank expression and said in a flat, toneless voice, "I am yours to command, my lord."

Voldemort sighed and looked extremely depressed. "I know you are, and I hate it."

"What have I done to displease you?"

"Quirrell, look at you!" Voldemort leapt off his seat despite Nagini's grumpy hissing. "You're not yourself, you're just some-some mindless drone that wants to serve me, I-I, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?"

"Isn't that what you want? I am a perfect Death Eater with no quirks or failures," replied Quirrell in the same robot voice.

"That's never what I wanted," whispered Voldemort. "I may have tried to appear evil and all, but you changed me for the better. I don't want this, I want _you._ I remember when you would laugh and smile and go flower shopping and be the man who I fell in love with, but now, you're, you're hollow, you're gone, where are you?"

"This version is better. This version is the best of myself I can provide. I am flawless and unable to feel pain."

"OR TO FEEL ANYTHING!" exploded Voldemort. "COME BACK! PLEASE! I ORDER YOU TO BE YOURSELF AGAIN."

"No. Not possible. I will not revert to my old ways of weakness. You may try to make me but that version will never come back. I have purified myself of all personal blemishes."

"You mean you purified yourself of yourself." Voldemort's eyes watered with tears and he let them fall. "I love you Quirrell, please, I can't do this, I need you back." Voldemort hugged Quirrell and ran his fingers through Quirrell's hair and sobbed on his shoulder. "Please, please, everything I ever said or implied to you that made you do this, I take it all back, I was so wrong, please, just come back to me, I need you and only you." Quirrell did nothing and simply stood still as Voldemort poured himself out. "You were warm and loving and taught me how to love. I'm begging you, come back and forgive me. You're everything to me, my friend, my lover, you showed me how to feel, you showed me how to get out of this sort of state, and I need you back, please…" 

Quirrell shoved Voldemort away. "No. You have done your job too well. You may not renege on what you have created. Use me as you will. If you wanted a child by me there is magic that could make me female."

"NO!" roared Voldemort.

Quirrell showed expression for the first time and sneered. "Now you're the pathetic one."

"QUIRRELL!" Voldemort's cry of pain signaled the end of the nightmare. Quirrell opened his eyes and was aware that he was hugging Voldemort so tight he may have been hurting him, but through his crying mixed with Voldemort's he couldn't lessen his grip. He needed to hold Voldemort this tightly, to prove that he would never become the emotionless shell Voldemort feared he would, to show him he was just as horrified by that dream as Voldemort was.

"Y-y-you see Quirrell?" choked Voldemort. "All those times I hurt you, made you feel worthless, made fun of you, demanded unreasonable things, withheld my love and affection from you, I-I-I can't get those out of my head! And-and I'm so scared of losing you, all through my horribleness to you, and if you ever changed into that-that thing, I'd never be able to, I just, I can't forgive myself anyway, and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I know you'd never leave me, but the monster I could have made, the ways I pushed you, I-I-I'M SO SORRY! THE WAY I TREATED YOU WAS UNEXCUSABE AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE STILL HERE AND IT JUST HURTS SO MUCH BECAUSE I _KNOW_ YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE AND JUST THE THINGS I DID TO YOU HAUNT ME AND IF I HAD CONTINUED YOU'D BE LIKE THAT UNLESS I KICKED YOU OUT FOR YOUR OWN GOOD AND THEN I'D KILL MYSELF BECAUSE I WOULD'VE BROKEN YOUR HEART AND BETRAYED YOU IN THE WAY YOU FEAR THE MOST!" Voldemort's voice cracked and he howled and cried on Quirrell, who seemed speechless after Voldemort's outburst. He stroked Voldemort's back and kissed his cheek.

"You called me Quirinus earlier."

"Was it okay with you?" asked Voldemort between sobs.

"I never let anyone but my parents call me that, mostly because I didn't have a choice concerning them." Voldemort let out a small laugh. "But I liked when you said it. It was like a pet name, not just a weird name no one likes. If you want, you could continue using it."

"Oo-o-okay." Voldemort calmed himself down and said, "If I can call you Quirinus, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to call me Tom. I actually hate the name 'Voldemort' since it's associated with all of my evildoings, and I don't like Tom much either, but it's closer to really being me, like when I was a little kid who loved dancing."

"Tom," murmured Quirrell in Voldemort's ear. Just the simple sound of his name from Quirrell's mouth sent shivers of pleasure down Voldemort's spine. He understood what Quirrell meant about his first name sounding like a pet name; it felt like something special he would only ever allow his soul mate to say.

Voldemort tenderly pressed his lips against Quirrell's mouth and kissed him, trying to express how he now felt, how close they had become from sharing their deepest fears and nightmares. Quirrell responded the same way, and Voldemort felt it was the best he could do in explaining how much he loved and trusted Quirrell. When Quirrell pulled away they looked each other in the eyes with nothing to hide.

"Tom?"

"Yes, Quirinus?"

"Would you please go and get Alexia some pads tomorrow?"

Voldemort laughed for the first time in too long. "I can't really say no after that bonding we just had, can I?"

"Nope."

"As you wish."


	26. Chapter 28

**There's some AVPSY references/minor spoilers in here, but I felt the need to put them here. Nothing too bad, just something new about Scarfy and another thing but you'll find that out at the end :P**

Quirrell breathed deeply in and out through his nose and smiled at the scent of Voldemort lying next to him. With his eyes closed, Quirrell pet Voldemort's back and hummed as he felt Voldemort stir in his sleep. He felt a bit sad that Voldemort's body was now a novelty to him, as it felt like so long since they were really intimate, but he loved that they could work their way back to being that close. His hand rested a bit on Voldemort's neck before going up to massage the scalp beneath Voldemort's soft, thick hair.

Nothing could ruin Quirrell's relaxation.

Except that Voldemort apparently had soft, thick hair.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH HHHH!"

"QUIRRELL! WHAT IS IT?" Voldemort woke up with a jump and saw Quirrell staring at him with his mouth open. "Quirrell!"

"I-I-"

"Come on, what's wrong?"

Still gaping, Quirrell pinched the end of a longish lock of black hair above Voldemort's forehead and pulled it down so Voldemort could see.

"WHAT?"

"You have hair! Nice hair that isn't wiry and stubborn! And it's black! I CAN'T!"

Voldemort pulled Quirrell out of bed and ran into the bathroom with him trailing along behind him. He flicked on the light and stared at himself in the mirror. Black, slightly messy from being slept on hair had sprouted from his head the night before and replaced the stringy gray stuff. Voldemort ran his fingers through it and caught little glimpses of gray streaks, but they were natural patches from age. Quirrell stood transfixed behind him as he played with Voldemort's hair and marveled at how soft it felt.

"Wow Quirrell, I'm 17 again!"

Quirrell quit petting his hair and groaned, "You've been waiting your whole life to make that joke, haven't you?"

"Ever since I saw that movie and wanted to dye my hair, but close enough."

"What's with all the screaming?" asked Alexia, who had just walked into the bathroom and looked groggy.

"Voldemort has hair!"

"WHAT?" Alexia stared at Voldemort and reached up to fluff his hair with a giggle. "I'm fluffing the dark lord's hair, and he looks like he's about ready to start purring."

"No I'm not," said Voldemort.

"Really? Not even now?" Quirrell joined in with Alexia and watched as Voldemort closed his eyes and laughed.

"Okay okay I admit it, it's nice."

"I can't believe you have hair," said Alexia. She stopped and gave Voldemort a hug. "I suppose the universe is trying to reward you, huh? 'Thanks for eating remorse pie, as a show of gratitude I'll let you have your hair back.'"

"I wasn't aware that this would be such a big deal, did my silver hairdo really look that bad?" asked Voldemort, actually looking a little hurt.

"No, it was good, but this is a lot better," said Quirrell.

"I don't think this is the universe's way of giving me a thank you card, but I think you're right, Alexia, it does have to go with what happened yesterday." Voldemort reached out an arm to Quirrell and made a group hug, "Now that my soul is repairing my body is following it."

"You're going to get a nose too?!" asked Quirrell and Alexia at the same time.

"Uh, maybe, I dunno. Hey, erm, uh, I need to go shopping this morning."

"For what?" asked Alexia, who clung tighter to Voldemort and Quirrell.

Voldemort felt his face redden and said, "Well, heh, it's a surprise."

Alexia looked at Voldemort and then to Quirrell and saw them both looking a bit awkward and red. "OH."

"No! It's not like that! Geez, you're only 11!"

"12."

The hug broke and Voldemort and Quirrell stared at her, Quirrell looking like he was about to cry. "Your first birthday with us and we missed it?" asked Quirrell.

Alexia looked at the ground and shuffled her feet. "Well, yesterday was a bit of an off day, so I didn't bring it up."

Voldemort hugged her again and said, "I'm sorry."

"I know. Boy oh boy, do I know."

"I have some groceries to get but I'll also find something for you, okay?"

Alexia blushed and said, "You don't have to do that, I mean you and Quirrell being okay and stuff is enough for me."

"It isn't for me, I refuse to let me adopted daughter have a birthday under my roof without getting something special for it. Presentless birthdays are the shits."

"Um, thank you."

Voldemort stood up, gave Quirrell a kiss on the cheek and left the house.

Oh God.

A whole aisle.

Who knew pussies could be so picky and diverse?

Not even ice cream had this much variety.

Voldemort looked up and down the feminine hygiene isle and continued to blanch. He knew that whatever he got needed to be the right sort of thing, but there was so much to choose from. Various women walked by him and each gave him an odd glance as they picked out whatever they needed and moved on with their life. Obviously it was a very personal choice and everyone needed something different so he couldn't grab the most popular thing and go.

He got more uncomfortable by the second, and he decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. Voldemort strode out of the store and walked a ways to a deserted alleyway. "Scarfy! Scarf of Sexual Preference! Yoo-hoo! How do I call you? Scarfy, I need you!"

Maybe there was a magic word.

"Please?"

"And how may I help you, sweetie?" Scarfy appeared with a loud bang on Voldemort's shoulders. "Sexy hair. Your soul must be finally getting its shit together, huh?"

"That's one way to put it, yeah. I have a problem right now, I need to get Alexia some stuff for her growing up, and I'm confused. And I need to get her something for her birthday, but I can't go to Diagon Alley without being arrested, and I've been a total asshole to Quirrell the last month and I feel like I need to get him something too. And we need milk, bread, jam, orange juice, toads, apples, and spaghetti, but I can handle all of that."

"You've got a full order today bucko, and you called the perfect magical accessory for the job! First of all, here's my advice for your situation with Quirrell: get him something sweet that you know he'll like, but make it special, something only you would know he'd like. I can't tell you want to get him because it needs to come from your heart, though I will leave this rather extensive book on the language of flowers with you and let you decide what to do."

"Flowers have a language?"

"No silly! Flowers all mean something, and some even combine to make new meanings. It all started around the Victorian era, and I must say I'm rather proud of it." Scarfy snapped his tail and a hardbard book fell to the ground.

Voldemort stooped down and pocketed the book. "How about Alexia?"

"If you know what you want to get her, you can give me some cash and I'll pick it up for you at Diagon Alley."

"Excellent. I was thinking that she might like some new quills, well, _I'd_ like new quills too, um, she likes reading and the books by that Lockhart fellow are certainly very popular, his nonfiction is rubbish but apparently the guy can spin quite a tale, so all of those, she'll appreciate extra help with Occlumency so a book on that sounds good, as well as some stuff on wandless magic, I don't believe you can learn the theory too early, and all that'll be a bit spendy so I think that the other thing will be a cake, if you could swing by Honeydukes."

"Sounds like a plan! But before I tell you what you need to get in the feminine aisle, I left the most important thing for last."

"What's that?"

"I have an itch in my middle back." Voldemort rolled his eyes but reached back and scratched the fabric sitting on the back of his neck. His fingers scratched for a second and then he felt a small metal object brush against his fingertips. Voldemort grabbed it and pulled it out so he could see it.

"It's a semi known fact that a brave Gryffindor in need of help can pull the sword of Gaydric Gryffindor out of Sorty, and it's an even lesser known fact that someone unwed and truly in love can pull a wedding ring out of my folds."

Voldemort's eyes watered as he stared at the beautiful ring in his hand. It was a band of gold with a deep groove in the middle of it that went all around it. Inside of the lane cut into the ring was a silver snake with emeralds fit in as scales and two red rubies for eyes. The snake circled the ring and bit its own tail and Voldemort figured that it would be worn with the snake biting itself facing upwards. There was no way Quirrell could ever look at this ring and not think of Voldemort.

"The snake biting its own tail, also known as an Ouroboros, is a symbol that is prevalent through many cultures and times in the world with many different meanings, but I think that the general meaning of eternity and completion was a good one to put on a wedding ring."

"Does it come with a box?" asked Voldemort weakly.

"Why yes it does!" Scarfy shook his tail and Voldemort caught the small black box. He shakily put the ring into it, stuck the box into his pocket, and zipped the pocket shut.

"Thank you," whispered Voldemort.

"Make sure to invite me to the wedding, okay?"

Voldemort smiled and stroked Scarfy's head. "It's the least I can do."

"You've got some pads to go and pick out right now, Alexia needs..."

"Thank you." Voldemort parted ways with Scarfy and went back into the muggle store in something of a daze. He picked out the groceries and pulled out the flower book from Scarfy. After spending a few minutes poring over the book in search of what Quirrell would like the most, Voldemort found a combination that would surprise him and couldn't resist getting it.

Voldemort apparated home and walked in to find that Scarfy had beat him to the house. Alexia was staring at her books, all of which were wrapped in rainbow paper on the table, and looked amazed at how many she was getting. A large chocolate cake with elaborate decoration sat in the middle of the table. Voldemort could hear that Quirrell was in the kitchen and he walked in with the large bouquet of flowers held out and said, "Hey Quirrell!"

Quirrell turned around and looked at the flowers. "Voldemort, are-are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am, Squirrell." Voldemort set the groceries down on the counter and conjured a vase to put the flowers in. "Aren't they pretty?"

Quirrell grinned. "You picked Gryffindor colors." This was true, as Voldemort had picked out a bundle of red and yellow roses.

"True, they're Gryffindor colors, but you know as well as I do that while red roses and yellow roses respectively mean love and friendship, together they make joy."

Quirrell launched himself into Voldemort arms and French kissed him. Voldemort stumbled a bit but recovered as Quirrell excitedly kissed him and squeezed his body. Quirrell pulled back and beamed at him. "You met Scarfy, didn't you?"

"I, well, maybe, but all he did was give me the book! I went in and-"

"Hey I'm glad you did, I expected it a bit, and I'm really happy that he told you about the language of flowers, he invented it after all. I can't believe you got me flowers with meanings! You're so sweet!" Quirrell pecked Voldemort on the cheek and looked at the stack of rainbow wrapped gifts. "And I'll bet you picked out some great books for Alexia too, I just, this is the happiest I think I've ever been!" Voldemort looked at Quirrell and smiled at the thought of the even happier day the ring in his pocket would bring. Quirrell held Voldemort's hand and pulled him towards the table. "Come on Alexia, let's see what you got!"

"First up is Scarfy!" she said. Alexia picked up Scarfy from the stack of books and Voldemort jumped.

"That's how you knew!"

"We all wanted to see when you'd notice him," said Quirrell as he laughed at Voldemort's expression.

Alexia made her way through her books and oohed and aahed at many of them, especially at the Occlumency one, saying that it would be very helpful to finally be able to do independent study with the toughest branch of magic she was learning.

Finally Alexia got to the bottom four books in the stack, all of them fairly thick. She tore a bit of the paper off of it and Voldemort assumed she must know what book it was because she stared at the exposed bit with a grin.

"What is it?" asked Voldemort.

Alexia started giggling and then it escalated to a full roar of laughter.

"I don't get it."

"Oh my God," panted Alexia. "Quirrell-" she cracked up again. "Quirrell! When-when we saw him- Lockhart wasn't just reading it-" Alexia ripped the rest of the paper off of the book and held it up, showing off the title _Twilight_. Quirrell joined in with the laughing and didn't stop until his face turned red. "HE WROTE IT!"

**I know that Tom Riddle has blond/white/bleachy sort of hair in AVPSY, and it looks pretty good, but I had to go with canon!Tom Riddle and his black hair. The idea of Voldy being a blonde makes me want to grow muchrooms in a closet it just bothers the hell out of me.**

**Red Vines are to Ron as reviews are to me.**


	27. Chapter 29

Tom Riddle Quiere Taco bell

**April Fool's Day crack! Shameless self insertion, drunk OOC Tom Riddle, a plot that incorporates weirdness that normally only exists in dreams, Taco Bell, my hometown, and really anything that bothers you about fanfiction is probably in here except that we don't get together. Special thanks to Jon, my Captain Jack Harkness.**

Weird things have been happening in my life lately. Separate, they wouldn't bother me, but together they must be something more than coincidence.

First off, my best friend Letta and I have reason to believe my bathroom is haunted. The walk in shower has a sort of aura to it that scares us and despite looking in it and seeing emptiness; we get the feeling of a presence. Also, it reacts strongly to glowsticks and we learned never to play with those in the bathroom again after whatever spirit is in there gave off a burst of malevolent energy.

Second, this one is purely my fault, I wrote _'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.' _on my front door for last Halloween and then it didn't come off for two months.

Thirdly, an odd incident happened at school in which I was writing out a sentence and I had to use the word 'petrify' so I said, 'Tom Riddle released the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets and used it to petrify students." Right after I wrote that a girl came back from the bathroom and announced that all the lights were off and that she checked for murderers.

I have a feeling she missed one.

Fourthly, just a few weeks ago the other bathroom in the apartment flooded after the release valve on the sink's piping broke and the hallway and parts of the bedrooms had inches of water that took days to fully get out.

Finally, last but certainly not least, Tom Riddle knocked on my door last week at 3 AM drunk as hell.

I stumbled out of bed and I look through the peephole and contemplate not opening it. However, I knew he could probably break down the door with magic and piss off the neighbors so I unlatched it and poked my head out. "Hello?"

"Hey." He grinned and I become very much alarmed. "So I'm drunk."

"Need a bucket?"

"Nope. Just you. And me. At Taco Bell."

"What?"

"You heard me, muggle. You me, Taco Bell, NOW."

"Um, can I get dressed?"

"Fine fine I don't care."

I ran to my room and threw on a t-shirt and khaki shorts and my long fur coat and flip flops. "Are we walking there?" I asked him. "It's a few miles but I could manage."

"Pfft, of course not! We're taking the night bus." He grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs and out towards the street. He stuck his wand out and the purple triple decker bus appeared with a loud band.

Stan Shuntpike opened the door and said, "'Ello Tom, who's this?"

"Hmmm." He turned towards me. "I have no idea. Who are you?"

"Emily."

"This is Emily."

"Really _really _blind date, eh?"

"NO!" Tom roared. "We're just going to Taco Bell. Get in loser!" I was pulled onto the bus and I noticed that we were parked on the left side of the street when a car drove straight for the bus and vaulted over it.

"You're on the wrong side of the road."

"No we ain't, we're on the right side."

"No, you're _supposed _to be on the right side. This is the left."

"The left side is the right side from where we come from."

You know what.

I'm tired and this can't continue sorry if you were liking it guys but I have to abandon this maybe I'll pick it up in 50 years I had like 20 pages of this planned but there's other things in life for me to do sorries!

**Happy April Fools's Day!**

**I wasn't kidding when I said basically everything that drives you crazy about fanfiction would be here. I know there's usually a good reason why people have to discontinue something but it still makes me sad when it happens so this is your emotional owwies for the day. Dream about what could have been.**

**I have this week off so hopefully I will be able to post the legit chapter later.**

**I feel bad cause I really did have like 20 pages planned out but my brain has had enough and I'm not pushing it. This was going to be super long and drawn out and involve all sorts of stuff and be its own fic but maybe it's a good thing it isn't cause I had a fake chapter in the making for this fanfic but since I'm too tired to do that too you all will have to miss out on Harry and skirt!Quirrell making out and Tom getting his share of Tom Riddle and the basilisk hitting on Belinda nope we're skipping that shit.**

**Please don't hurt me.**


	28. Chapter 30

**Yey an update! Before you read this I highly recommend reading 'We Wish We Were Kids', a oneshot of mine that I did featuring Damian, the antichrist character that was cut from the video of AVPSY but appeared in the script in the Always Dance section. You can probably read this and get away with not knowing who he is since he only had 3 lines in the play so he's practically an OC, but the more you know what's going on with him the better. I love the guy so much I'm bringing him into this.**

Scarfy joined in with Quirrell and Alexia's laughing but he stopped sooner than them and asked, "Quirrell, may I speak with you for a moment? Somewhere alone?"

"Oh, uh, okay. Have some cake guys, I'll be back in a sec." Quirrell draped Scarfy around his shoulders and walked outside into his garden. "What's up?"

"I'm concerned about you, sweetie. You've lost some pounds since I last saw you and you were underweight even then. I know you've been upset and that everything going on with Voldemort has hurt you, but I want to make sure you're going to take care of yourself. Promise me that you'll do your best to let him heal you and get you healthy again?"

"Oo-okay." His weight was certainly not what Quirrell thought this conversation was going to be about.

"Can I come over in a few days to see how you're doing?"

"Sure." Quirrell pet Scarfy on the head and cleared his throat. "Anything else?"

Scarfy fluffed Quirrell's hair and said, "When you and Voldemort are physically close again and you want to have sex, break out that cute little Ravenclaw skirt of yours and he'll probably be taking it off of you within minutes."

"Sc-sc-scarfy!" A blush spread quickly from Quirrell's face to his ears. It'd be years since Scarfy had ever given him tips about if he ever had a love life, but now that he had a boyfriend it felt really weird. Scarfy was one of his few friends, so it was more a good weird than a bad even though it startled him so much he stuttered. "I'll keep that in mind, but it's a long ways off before I think I'll feel okay. His body is so new to me after my isolation from him and it makes me so sad every time I touch him because he looks familiar but it feels foreign to me. And I don't know how I'm going to react when he initiates contact, so far it's been just me. I-I." Tears formed in Quirrell's eyes and Scarfy offered his tail to him. Quirrell dabbed his eyes and then gave up and broke down crying.

"There there, it's okay. Just like old times, huh? Voldy loves you, he really does and he'll understand why it's going to take you awhile to recover. He's going to take good care of you and never hurt you again. I promise."

Quirrell shook and continued sobbing. "W-why d-d-d-does t-t-touch-ching h-him h-h-ave t-t-to f-fell s-s-o w-weird?"

"You two were very close before he started being bitchy and your body is still in shock from being alone for the past few weeks. All you need is some time to heal. There's nothing shameful about it and there's nothing wrong with you because you need to allow yourself to settle back into being with him. It's good to not rush yourself, okay?"

"Hmmhmm." Quirrell kept crying into Scarfy and Scarfy nuzzled his cheek as he did so.

"Hey Quirrell? Are you alright?" Voldemort came outside carrying a piece of cake for Quirrell and he stood beside him as he sobbed. "I can go back in if you like, I was just worried, that's all."

"No, you should hug him," said Scarfy. Voldemort set the cake on the ground and knelt down beside Quirrell. Quirell jumped when Voldemort's hands touched his sides and he cried even harder into Scarfy.

"Quirrell? Why are you crying?"

"He's sad because after being isolated from you for weeks he isn't used to you anymore and he's brokenhearted at not feeling close to you."

"Oh." Voldemort tentatively held on of Quirrell's hands and was relieved that he didn't flinch. "Would you feel better if you hugged me and then I hugged back?" Quirrell nodded and held Voldemort tightly. He sighed and relaxed as Voldemort wrapped his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

"So Voldemort, your soul is healing up, which means that you need to go deep into your past and make things right."

"Yeah I do, Scarfy. But I can't talk to any wizards or family I've killed, so I'm just sorta stuck with everything." Voldemort closed his eyes and smiled as Quirrell's crying lessened.

Scarfy sighed and said, "I meant _really_ deep, Tom."

"Huh?" Quirrell sniffled one last time and pulled back so he could look at Scarfy. "What do you mean?" He looked at Voldemort again. "What does he mean, really deep?"

Voldemort was wearing the same sad look he'd gotten right after he punched Quirrell. "No Scarfy, I can't do it. I can't. It's been far too long; showing up would make it even worse."

"No Tom, you need to see him, and he needs to see you. You were his one true friend and I can tell you that you broke him when you left and hardly said goodbye, I was there."

"I can't. He hates me, I know he does."

"I don't think so. Go to him, even if he does hate your guts its closure for what you did so long ago."

"What are we talking about?" asked Quirrell. "I thought you said you never had a friend."

Voldemort sat down from his kneeling position and guiltily stared at the ground. "I said that because after what I did to my one and only friend growing up I can't think of him as a friend because I don't deserve him and he probably hates me. When I was five years old, living at the orphanage, a giant three headed dog came and dropped a kid named Damian on the porch of the orphanage. Everyone was scared of him or freaked out and people made fun of him, but we were close friends. Really close. In fact, he was my first kiss. But the day I went to Hogwarts, the day right after he kissed me, I told him that the kiss didn't mean anything and then I never came back to the orphanage or wrote him back or invited him to see me at school. Basically the last contact we had was me trying to friendzone him and then ditching him forever."

"Awwwwww!" Quirrell put his hand on Voldemort's shoulder and said, "You have to go back to him! He needs to see you, I know he does! I sorta know how that feels after when you threw me in Azkaban, and even if he's angry with you both of you need to meet again and sort things out."

"Wait, even though we kissed, you still want me to talk with him? You're fine with it?"

"Of course! I'm not going to get jealous over a kiss you had decades ago. You're allowed to have more than one close friend, and you really need this."

"Okay." Voldemort stood up and brushed the dirt off of himself from sitting on the ground. "I'll go if you go with me so I'm not alone and I don't fuck something up."

"Sure!" Quirrell hugged Voldemort and looked marginally happier than he had a minute before. "I'm so happy you're going to see him!" He pecked Voldemort on the mouth and gave him a gentle squeeze. "I'm not the only one who needs to get their heart fixed up."

Voldemort handed Quirrell his cake and Quirrell took a bite. "Hm, yummy! Vanilla with strawberry filling is my favorite." He gave Voldemort another kiss on the mouth and said, "Thank you for the cake, I feels loads better."

"You're welcome, Quirrell. I hope this visit makes me feel better. Hey Alexia!" Voldemort opened the patio door and found Alexia reading _The Hunger Games_ with Alice on the couch. "How's the book going? Um, uh, well, I have an old friend I need to visit because I need to apologize for breaking his heart and soul when he was ten and for abandoning him do you want to come?"

"Sounds like it could be fun. The book is great by the way, I've only just started it but by the way things are going there's going to be a guaranteed 23 deaths later on."

"I'll borrow it when you're done then." Alexia put on her coat and picked up Alice and Belinda.

"Do you want to bring your friend some cake?"

"Oh why the hell not." Voldemort chuckled as he cut a slice of cake and put it on a plate. "I'm going to write him a note too, just in case he isn't home. I don't think I could handle trying to go back there again if he's not there." He jogged downstairs and nervously wrote down his thoughts on a piece of parchment as Alexia and Quirrell finished their cake upstairs. Voldemort came back up again and picked up the cake for Damian.

"I can apparate you guys to Damian's home."

"Okay." Voldemort covered the piece of cake in plastic wrap so it wouldn't end up all over them during apparition and draped an arm around Quirrell so it was on top of Scarfy. Alexia held Quirrell's hand and Alice in her arms and Belinda draped herself around Voldemort's neck.

"Ready?" asked Scarfy.

"Yeah," said Voldemort. Scarfy apparated them with a loud bang to a little house somewhere in the country.

"This is where I leave you folks, bye!" Scarfy disappeared and Voldemort started shaking.

"It's gonna be okay Voldemort," said Quirrell.

"Yeah, you'll do great."

"Thanks guys." He took a moment to look around at the scenery. The house was one floor with crumbling brickwork and probably only a few bedrooms. Outside by the door read a sign that read _'Damian Tumnus, editor of the Evening Prophet, co-editor of Witch Weekend Edition, columnist for Episcopalian Weekly, reviewer for Magic Entertainment and freelance journalist/writer.'_ There was a little mossy cobblestone path that lead from the front doorsteps off into the distance that probably went for miles until it reached a town. The rest of the area was all grass and hills and trees with a few patches of wildflowers. "I can certainly understand why he'd want to live here, all nice and secluded."

"He's a loner then?" asked Quirrell. "Explains why Scarfy wants you to talk to him so bad."

"Yeah. Here goes nothing." Voldemort walked up to the front door, took a deep breath, rang the doorbell and winced as he heard footsteps coming towards them from inside the house.

"Hello!" The person Quirrell and Alexia assumed was Damian opened the door and they both thought they ought to have called first. He was obviously in pajamas, wearing a robe and loose fitting flannel pants that went all the way down to his slippers. His hair was probably extremely bad because he was wearing a knit cap over it. The one good thing Quirrell could think was that his glasses were clean, so at least he had time to get those on and clean them. Damian stared at Voldemort with a slightly open mouth and Voldemort bit his lip. "Tom? You're not dead? You're here? IT'S REALLY YOU?"

"Y-y-yeah." Voldemort shuffled his feet and couldn't look Damian in the eyes. Quick, say something! "Um. You're wearing pants."

"If I had known it was you I wouldn't have bothered putting any clothes on."

Quirrell and Alexia's mouths fell open and Quirrell couldn't tell if he should laugh or not. He cleared his throat and unsuccessfully tried to clear his face of his expression. "Y-you're a stripper?"

"HUH?" Damian looked at Quirrell and Alexia and then to Voldemort. "YOU DIDN'T TELL THEM? OH MY- AHAHAHAHAAAAAA!" Voldemort looked at Quirrell and Alexia and started laughing too.

"I don't understand," said Quirrell.

"Let me show you what Tom should have told you about." Damian smirked and pulled his pants down making Alexia close her eyes and giggle out of embarrassment and Quirrell cover his eyes and blush scarlet.

"Please pull your pants up, sir."

Voldemort recovered enough to say, "It's okay you two, he's a satyr, or a faun! He has goat legs!"

Quirrell opened his eyes and stared at Damian as he kicked off his slippers and threw his pants off to reveal his furry legs and his hooves. He tossed his hat off of his head and fluffed his grey streaked curls and plucked a few strings from the hat off of his small horns. Last to go was his robe which he untied and let fall from his body to the floor. Damian sighed and spread his arms wide. "Ahhhh that feels nice, I hate clothes! I'm not technically a faun or a satyr, I'm something from hell but I'm not really sure exactly what I am because I cut off almost all of my communications from there. About me being a stripper, well…" he looked at the pile of clothes at his hooves. "I think I could have a good time as one if non-creepy people were into goats."

Alexia allowed herself to look and she too gazed at Damian and wasn't sure what to say without being rude. Damian grinned at Quirrell and Alexia and said, "I can see Tom hasn't told you two anything, so how about we all head inside and I'll put the kettle on? Or the coffee pot, either one is marvelous."

"Wait," said Voldemort. "You're not like, storming angry, want to kill me, going to fry my skin off?"

Damian's grin turned into a sad smile and he suddenly looked his age. "I've wanted to see you again for so many years, yet I stopped imagining a reunion with you long ago. Now you're here, and, well, you have a lot of explaining to do. I hope for us to part on good terms today, but even if I somehow can't accept you back into my life I'm not going to hurt anyone. You know me; I'm your friendly neighborhood antichrist who spends his life trying to be good." He gestured for them all to come in and Quirrell wanted so to know what was going on so badly but kept his mouth shut. Or he would have, until they got to the living room.

It was fairly obvious that they were not only looking at a bachelor pad that didn't ever expect to house company, but a bachelor pad that had quite the mentally active bachelor. Notebook paper, graphing paper, parchment, pencils, pens, quills, notebooks, binders, newspapers, and textbooks of all sorts covered up the couch, coffee table, regular table, floor, bookshelf, and every single chair except for a stool which Quirrell suspected Damian moved around the room if he ever needed to sit somewhere else aside from his desk. The walls were covered in cork boards that housed either Daily Prophet clippings, hand drawn diagrams of atomic chemical structures, the blast power and effect ranges of various common defensive and offensive spells, and random hand written notes that could say anything from 'buy more pencil lead' to 'the tortoise makes a bad paper weight'. Damian's desk had a laptop and a standard muggle classroom microscope along with stacks of parchment and notebook papers and an 'I Heart Jesus' mug full of writing utensils. Despite the mess the whole room had sort of a structure to it, giving it a sense of organized chaos.

"Woah!" exclaimed Quirrell. "This makes our basement look tidy! What exactly are you studying? It's like-like a jumble of muggle science and magic together!"

"Yeah, this looks really cool!" said Alexia. "I'm twelve and I don't know much about either, but it would certainly help with the inventions of new potions and stuff, right?"

"That and much more, if this research leads to anything," said Damian. "I'll tell you all how my living room got to be taken over by magical science research, but I think I ought to start from the beginning of my life so you understand me and my origins more." He shifted piles of paper from the couch and carefully moved them to the floor. "Coffee, tea, water, orange juice, or milk?"

"Tea," chorused them all. Damian turned the kettle on and dragged his stool over in front of the couch. He perched on it and scratched his head behind his horns as he mentally prepared the best way to tell his story.

"When I said I came from hell earlier I meant it literally. I was dumped on the doorstep of Tom's orphanage when I was four years old and he was five. I don't remember what it was like in the underworld so if you wanted to know I'm sorry but hopefully you'll never have to find out. Anyways, I was brought here to be the antichrist, and I was dumped at an orphanage run by nuns so I would grow up as a lonely and abused outcast who hated everyone after the world rejected me. However, that never happened, because I had Tom and I learned to love this world as my home and want to enjoy and protect it. He too was an outcast because of his looks and his fondness of dancing, so we became almost instant friends. We stayed close for the six years he was there with me, including sharing a few kisses the day before he left for Hogwarts. I'm assuming you people are here because you knew about that part and how broken I was about it."

"Yeah," said Voldemort. Quirrell and Alexia nodded and let him continue.

"Life for me then was really lonely. I cried a lot, never talked to people, just as you'd probably expect. After awhile I needed to stop and think of what I wanted to do that could both be something good and not something that would bore me. A teacher at the stupid public school I was sent to in order to get me used to a world in which I had to wear clothes said that I wrote very well and despite my dislike of the place that comment really struck a chord with me. I pursued my writing and well, long story short you saw the sign outside, I'm doing well at it."

"About that," Quirrell shifted into a new sitting position that turned out to be exactly the same one he started out in. "So you're apparently supposed to be the antichrist, but you write for Episcopalians, so, what's with that?"

Damian grinned. "Well, Tom and I were raised by Episcopalian nuns so it comes to me naturally. I like most of what they think so I don't see a problem writing for them, plus it's the biggest 'fuck you' I can possibly send to my relatives who abandoned me. I was born to be evil and hurt everything, and even though society will never fully accept me because I won't show people what I really look like if I can avoid it, I'm living proof that you can craft your own life aside from what you were supposedly born to do." He summoned a COEXIST mug of coffee from his kitchen and continued, "I have odd powers like the telekinesis I just did, but just because I have something that could be used for evil or doesn't mean I'm going to use it as such."

Voldemort looked at Damian with his coffee and said, "Um, uh, this is weird, but, I brought you cake." He held out the plate to Damian and smiled as his old friend widened his eyes at the cake.

"Thanks!" Damian unwrapped the plate and asked, "Do you want to start talking about your story while I eat?"

"Um, okay."

Damian took a bite and closed his eyes as the savored the taste. "I don't even know what you're going to say, but I think you're off to a great start."

"Well, from the fact that you have magic stuff in here and you do work for several wizarding publications, I'm assuming you already know what I did with my life."

"The most recent edition of the Prophet that mentioned you went over your death, so I'm not exactly up to date on what's going on."

"Well, long story short, you remember how I was attached to Quirrell and then I killed Cedric and got a new body? Well, when I broke off from Quirrell, er, well, from our guessing we believe that my soul tore and a bit of it stuck to Quirrell because I love him so much even though I would deny it to the outside world and through that little bit attached to Quirrell I came back after Harry killed me because I couldn't move on since I'm grounded here by him."

"Wouldn't put it past you to deny the fact that you care about someone."

"OH MY GOODNESS WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE HUG ALREADY THIS IS TOOOOORTUUUUUUURE!" blurted out Alexia.

"Huh?" asked Damian.

"Alexia, Quirrell and my adopted daughter, is an empath and even though we're working with her and helping her keep outside emotions from affecting her situations like this are pretty hard to shut out."

"Oh!" Damian looked at her with interest and said, "Does that mean you sense other people's emotions or you feel them as your own?"

"Sometimes one or the other, sometimes both. It's weird and confusing and I have the world's worst mood swings."

"Eurgh. Well, one thing's for sure, you're definitely accurate in that were holding back." Damian put his cake and coffee on the floor and stood up. "Would telling me how you feel perhaps come across better in a hug?"

"YES!" Voldemort stood up and just looked at Damian with a sort of sadness in his eyes. "I can't ever fully atone for what I've done, I know that now, not for what I did to you or what I've done to other people, but I can certainly try. And with you, well, I miss you, I really do, but I stopped thinking about you after awhile because it hurt so much to do so and I thought I could never talk to you again since you'd hate me, and I was willing to try and sweep it under the rug but I can't and well, you, you really want me back?"

"There aren't many things I love in this world, Tom, but one of them is you."

Voldemort gently wrapped his arms around Damian and Damian hugged Voldemort tightly. He carefully rested his head on Voldemort's shoulder so that he wouldn't poke him with his horns and started shaking. "I'm so sorry Damian. I'm never kicking you out of my life again."

"I won't let you." Damian sniffled and found himself crying on Voldemort's shoulder harder than he had in a long time.

Voldemort let him cry for a couple minutes but felt that the silence from him was odd and that he needed to say something. He was terrible at trying to talk casually but he felt the need to try. "What's with the glasses?"

"My tweens brought more control over my telekinesis and unfocused eyesight." Damian gave Voldemort a squeeze before stepping back from him. "I heard some crinkling in your pocket, what is it?"

"Oh, I wrote out a note in case you weren't home but there's no need for it now."

"May I keep it anyways?" Voldemort handed it over and Damian gave it a place of honor on the only clear spot of the coffee table. "I'll read it later."

"So, how did you find out about the magical world? I left, and then never talked to you, so how did you find this stuff?"

"It's a fun story how I did it." Damian sat back down. "I started looking for any discrepancies in society since I figured wizards living under muggle radar would try to clean up after themselves and keep themselves hidden and things that looked out of place could possibly be related to magic. Also, I seem to be able to perceive things that muggles can't due to my supernatural status. Long story short I stumbled upon the Leaky Cauldron on my way through London to pick up a book I'd ordered from a shop on the same street. I noticed that people were walking by it and no one really seemed to actually see it except for me. I was on the lookout for odd things so I figured it was magical. I walked in and it turns out I was right. From then on I would stop by in there for drinks, eavesdrop on wizards so I could learn information and fit in with the culture, and I found out how to get into Diagon Ally. I don't need a wand, I just have to tap the brink with a finger and give it a slight charge of energy. It's quite amusing how arrogant wizards seem to be, I bet a muggle with a lighter could waltz into Diagon Ally because all that brick needs is a blip of energy to open up."

"Anyways I bought lots of books on magical lore and history and I immersed myself in it. I wanted to know all I could of this previously unknown part of our world. There is a bit of a downside to this though, in that I wanted to study magic but it's illegal for me to own a wand as a nonhuman, and if I went to buy one and it didn't agree with my own powers I could be forced to reveal myself and end up in deep shit. I got a few jobs working with some wizarding media to keep in touch with the magic world and have a good time participating in the culture. For a time I was at a standstill as far as my research went until a few months ago when I met the most subtly badass wizard ever in the Leaky Cauldron."

Voldemort smiled, "You mean even more so than me? Had I used my powers for good?"

"This guy is in his thirties, and he was sitting there stirring his coffee with wandless magic and reading _A Brief History of Time_ by Stephen Hawking."

"Who is this person?" asked Quirrell. "He's the only other person I've heard of under 100 who can do wandless magic aside from me."

"His name is Tyler and he's the one who's responsible for making my living room look like this. I saw him reading this book and I was intrigued. Most wizards don't bother with the way muggles see and study the world; even muggleborns leave behind the chemistry and physics books once they go to Hogwarts. Yet there he was, an incredibly talented wizard reading a book by a well known muggle physicist. I started talking to him and I think we sat there for hours discussing how the study of magic lacked the sort of organization and preciseness that muggles used. We agreed that there was a whole branch of studying out there to explore and that it was about time someone put magic under a microscope to see what was going on. If it's something so consistent that we can teach it, yet so diverse that every wand and wizard has different capabilities, surely it's something work looking at, and that's just wand magic!

"Tyler is a good friend to me now and the best research partner one could ever wish for. He has access to wand magic even though he prefers not to use it and he has a library to rival mine.

"We've only been working for a couple of months so we haven't had too much going on. Right now I'm analyzing the difference between unicorn and horse DNA and cell structures via blood and skin samples from different horses and unicorns. The idea is to look at how magic changes and effects a creature's body, and the two of them are similar enough that we should be able to find something to compare to other magical creatures."

"You're a Ravenclaw through and through," said Voldemort with a proud look.

Damian blushed and said, "And you're alright with that, you snake?"

"I'm dating one, and I adopted one, so why shouldn't my friend be one?" Damian smiled at him and Alexia sighed happily.

Quirrell chuckled. "If Alexia's happy then I guess it's official, you two are friends again!"

They spent the rest of the day at Damian's place and Quirrell wound up taking a pile of books home to read. Damian playfully kicked them out at 7 PM by saying he had an article due in the morning and threatening Quirrell with making him a library card if he lost one of his books. Quirrell apparated the group home and turned to Voldemort.

"I'm really proud of you for making up with him. That and it's great to have another friend for myself too."

"Yeah. I'm still in minor shock over how well that went." Voldemort looked cheerful for a minute before frowning a bit. "I just hope he's really okay and is you know, over me as a romantic partner."

"I'm pretty sure he is," said Alexia. "I could be reading a bit far into this because I spend all my time around gay men, but the way Damian says Tyler's name makes me think they'll be going out for coffee and casual strolls outside quite a lot in these upcoming months as thw weather gets nicer."

"You need some female friends."

"I flat out need more friends."

"Hey guys," interrupted Quirrell. He didn't appear to have even been aware of what Voldemort and Alexia were talking about since he looked a bit dazed.

"Yes, Quirrell?"

"Well, if Voldemort can go into his past and try to make amends for hurt and bond with people again, I can do the same?"

"Quirrell?" Voldemort raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't aware you'd hurt anyone."

"I have though. It's been around two years since I saw my parents or any members of my family and I need to talk to them."

**Well, this was long but I hoped you guys liked it. Damian has become one of my favorite characters ever even though he's almost an OC since we didn't get much of him in the script of the play and none of him in the youtube recording. Feel proud of me though, I controlled myself from spelling his name differently through this whole thing.**

**Tyler, the Leaky Cauldron dude is a tribute to this background character we get 2 seconds of in Prisoner of Azkaban (I'd post a picture here but ff is stupid) I get the feeling that he could be the result of someone thinking that a person stirring their coffee wandlessly in the movie looked cool and hey why not a book about science, but this guy is pretty dang awesome.**

**Coming up next, Quirrell's parents!**

**Comments? :)**


	29. Chapter 31

_Dear Damian,_

_It's me, Tom. Tom Riddle from the orphanage._

_I know that a letter isn't a good way to try and explain myself but I've waited far too long and since I'm dropping this at your home since you aren't in I don't think I could come back in person I'm such a wreck right now. I'm writing this and not editing any of it because I need it to be as sincere and from my heart as possible._

_If you're at all in touch with the wizarding world of magic you may have heard that I became a horrible dark lor by the name of Voldemort, basically something not too far from what the demons would have wanted you to become only not a worldwide terror. Magic is a wonderful thing, but it can go either way. You can heal, kill, comfort, torture, everything really. Long story very short (I can explain more in person if you want to talk to me) I found a way to make myself immortal by committing murder and breaking off a piece of my soul to put into an object so that if my body died I could live on. Well, I died, and then I became a floating spirit wandering around until I found Quirrell. He's a wizard and he agreed to host me until I could get a body. When I did get my own body a bit of me broke off into him because, well, I learned how to love. I got killed again later but I'm back now because of the bit of me inside of Quirrell._

_When I left you I broke your heart and if I'm honest mine broke with it. But now, after so many years, I've learned how to love and care for people again. I'm living with Quirrell as his boyfriend and we've adopted a daughter named Alexia. I love them with all of my bruised and neglected heart; I'm planning to propose to Quirrell soon, hopefully within the next few months!_

_I love you. I tried to push all of my feelings away when I left but now that my heart is open again I can't not try to talk to you again. I want to be friends with you again and have you in my life if we can work things out. We can't be romantic partners but I still care for you as a close friend._

_An 'I'm sorry' from me isn't good enough. Anything from me isn't good enough for healing what I did to you, but I want to try. It's okay if you don't want to see me because it would hurt or you can't forgive me. I don't want to cause you more pain._

_Wishing you well, Tom_

Damian shook and sniffled again as he reread Voldemort's letter. The memory of having Voldemort, Quirrell, and Alexia at his house mere hours ago was so surreal it would be hard to believe it had happened without this piece of evidence in his hands. He slipped the letter into a page protector and placed it into his scrapbook binder. Not many things were important enough to make it into his scrapbook, but this had a place at the front.

Clyde, Damian's pet tortoise, munched on some lettuce beside Damian on his bed and he smiled at his companion. "Do you think I should reply?" Clyde continued eating and Damian took it as a yes. "Okay then. Hmmm, quill or regular pen? Quill looks better." He summoned some paper and a quill and inkwell from the living room and proudly noticed that nothing had spilled despite the fact he'd used blind telekinesis from a different room.

_Dear Tom,_

_First off, I hope you don't mind me calling you Tom. I noticed that Quirrell and Alexia call you Voldemort but I'll probably call you Voldemort as much as you'll call me Mr. Tumnus (unless you're sassing me)._

_I know I don't really need to reply to your letter since you were here in person but I want to anyways. I think it's adorable that you're planning to marry Quirrell in the near future and I'm really happy for you two. We likely wouldn't have worked out anyways if you'd come back to me when you were single anyways. I don't view any of this a loss of a potential boyfriend, I've thought of you as my best friend all these years and I'm not at all jealous of Quirrell. I think you already know this but I need to make it really clear for you two that your relationship is beautiful and I'm content as a friend._

_Tyler is a trustworthy friend of mine and I'm sure that he would not leak anything I say to him. I would like to tell him about you and how you've come back and aren't dead. He's a neutral, admittedly leaning to the light, wizard and I already told him about our relationship at the orphanage and how you were then. You two would likely get along well and the more people we have to help with our research the better (if you're interested). He did not fight when you came back this time around because he was visiting family in America and the time before that 12 years ago he helped trained light wizards for battle but did not actually fight then either because he didn't want to be in the middle of it. He has no bad blood with you and it managed to not affect him much each time. Don't think that he doesn't care about the state of the country. It's that he hates fighting except for self defense, and even then wars make him sick because he's expected to hurt people he has no personal quarrel with. Basically he'd be okay with you since you've changed, I think._

_I too decided that a letter unedited is the best for writing from the heart so please excuse my terrible writing._

_Send me a note about when I could drop by and see your place, perhaps for tea?_

_Love, Damian_

He rolled up the letter and called out, "Brian! Brian Howlden! Get over here!"  
A tawny owl swopped through the window to Damian's bedroom and let out a loud and grumpy sounding hoot. "Yeah yeah I know it's only 8 but it's dark out anyways. Take this to Voldemort and Quirrell's house, okay?" Damian tied the letter to Brian's leg and sighed happily at the prospect of getting to see Voldemort and his family again.

Damian's home was set up so that the living room and his bedroom were free for being messy with work and research and the fireplace was in a spare bedroom and was free to be messy with soot and ash and not interfere with the rest of the house's mess. He never used the fireplace and the only real reason why he had one was for Floo powder power. So, when he heard what sounded like a gust of wind and someone tripping over themselves out of the fireplace down the hall he quickly threw some blankets over himself and jammed a knit hat over his head.

"Damian?"

Oh, whew, it was just Tyler. Damian would recognize that voice and accent anywhere "I'm in my bedroom!"

Tyler walked in as he brushed soot off of himself and stood beside Damian. "You don't need this, silly!" He tossed Damian's hat off and noticed his slightly bloodshot eyes. "You okay? I came over because you haven't replied for two days and I was getting worried. And um, it looks like you've been crying a bit recently, so this might have been a bad time."

"Oh no, it's fine." Damian gestured to the end of his bed and Tyler sat down. "I, um, had some company earlier and I'd tell you about it but I'm not sure they're okay with anyone knowing so, er, I can't say why I was crying but just know that it's because I'm happy."

"That's good."

"We last talked face to face weeks ago you still sound American."

Tyler groaned. "Yeah I know. I can live over here for months and months and sound a tiny bit English but if I go back there for two days I sound just like an Oregonian again. This wouldn't piss me off so badly if I wasn't a citizen of England but as it is everyone thinks I'm some sort of stubborn expatriate who still says fries instead of chips."

"It's cute though."

"I know I'm cute but I live here so I want to be British cute, not American cute!" Tyler and Damian stared at each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

"So, how was your talk with Ollivander today?" asked Damian once he recovered.

Tyler picked up one of Damian's pillows and hugged it. "Well, I did get the book on wand cores and woods that I was looking for, but we wound up talking for about an hour about my own cherry wand. I thought Ollivander's head was going to explode from excitement when he found out that not only is my wand cherry, which is rare, and phoenix feather, the pickiest and most varied core he uses, but that I made it myself."

"WHAT? YOU DID? Wouldn't you have been around ten years old?"

"Yeah, of course I was ten, soon to be eleven when I made it. Didn't I tell you?" Damian shook his head. Tyler pulled his wand out of his pocket and handed it over to Damian so he could look at it as he talked.

"My family has a tradition that, sort of like Jedi who make their own lightsabers as Padawans, a witch or wizard should make their own wand as part of getting in touch with their personal magic. This goes a ways back, and it sort of makes sense since we've been professional wand makers for generations. Anyways, the way it works is that the kid digs through the supply of wand cores we have and find one that strikes a good chord with their magic. It's hard to describe but it's sort of a feeling of warmth or familiarity, maybe like if you turn the TV onto your favorite episode of a show that you hadn't watched in years, something really deeply personal. Once they have a wand core they go into the outside world with it and hug trees until they find one that resonates with their magic and the core and then they make their wand.

"I felt a lot of the cores we had and I clicked with the phoenix feather that's in the wand you're holding. As far as wand wood goes, most people walk out for miles to find that 'perfect tree' but I was feeling lazy so I went to the backyard, touched the cherry tree and found my wand tree on my first try."

"Laziness pays off, eh?"

"It sure did for me. Even better is that you're allowed to use magic outside of school over there so long as you don't hurt someone or expose the magical world. So I got to practice magic for a few months before heading off to school at Hogwarts."

Damian handed Tyler his wand back and asked, "You know, that's something I've been wondering about for a long time. Why did you go to Hogwarts when you could've stayed home or perhaps gone to a school in America?"

"My parents gave me the option of staying close to home and going to the Columbia School of Magic, which is an enchanted underwater school in a deep part of the Columbia River Gorge, or traveling abroad if I liked. You know me, I love traveling, so I chose to go out of the country to a school that appealed to me: Hogwarts. I'm certainly glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have had the experience of learning under such great teachers and I wouldn't have decided to live here and then I wouldn't have met you."

The two of them smiled and blushed slightly at the other, and it might have turned into an extremely sweet and memorable moment in their friendship if Brian Howlden hadn't swooped through the window with Voldemort's reply.

_Hey Damian,_

_I talked about it with Quirrell and he agrees that it's okay to tell Tyler about me. Also Monday sometime around 4 PM would be good for a visit, feel free to bring Tyler._

_Sleep well!_

_Love, __Voldemort__ Tom_

"What is it?" asked Tyler.

"Oh, I can tell you about the visitors I had earlier. Before I do though, I want to know what you were doing this time last year over in the U.S. that made you stay for months and really not be involved over here."

Tyler rolled his eyes and said, "Oh man, it was the pits. Most of it was spent chasing unicorns around in the Cascade Mountains and forests because the family needed more unicorn hairs and the other part was spent preparing for my sister's wedding because she decided to marry some asshole named Paco McGrath."

For some absurd reason that Damian couldn't place he started giggling at 'Paco McGrath'. He needed more sleep, evidently. "Why was he an asshole?"

Tyler smirked at Damian's amusement and said, "I'm not sure why I think of him as one, he seemed nice enough at the wedding. I guess because I had to prepare for their wedding before I even met the guy automatically made him an asshole in my book. Now then, I told my stuff, you tell yours."

"Remember how I said I grew up with Tom Riddle?"

Tyler widened his eyes. "Go on."

"Quirrell, it'll be fine, they're your parents, I'm sure they love you." Voldemort wrapped an arm around Quirrell's waist as Quirrell shakily stared at the house where he grew up. It was on a nice muggle street with gorgeous landscaping and a flowerbed done out front. He guessed that Quirrell's bedroom was on the second floor of the two story house and set up sort of like their own was. "You'll be okay. They've probably missed you all these years and have wanted you to come back."

Quirrell's eyes watered and he stared down at the ground. Voldemort had talked to Damian yesterday, and now it was his turn today. He tried to compose himself and say something about how he was sure Voldemort was right but all that came out was, "Why haven't they sent me any letters? If they really wanted me to come home why haven't they said anything?"

Voldemort couldn't answer but him and Alexia both hugged Quirrell in the middle of the street.

"If they don't accept us then this while blow all of our cover. Are you sure I should do this Voldemort?"

"Yes, my little Squirrell. I don't know much about how a family works, but if these are the people who raised you to be the wonderful man I have in my arms then I think they'll be okay, maybe not at first, but they will."

"Alright. Here I go," whispered Quirrell. The sun was climbing up the sky close to midday and Quirrell allowed himself to enjoy how pretty and bright it looked before leaving Alexia and Voldemort to go up to the door. Voldemort and Alexia stayed behind by hiding down in one of the flower beds.

Shaking even harder than before, Quirrell timidly rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" called out a female voice from within. Quirrell faced the temptation to run away and he flinched when his mother opened the door. She stared in shock at Quirrell, who was unmistakably her son due to the exact same facial features and hair color. "QUIRINUS?"

"H-h-i m-m-om," stuttered Quirrell.

"Quirinus!" she repeated. Without warning she hugged Quirrell tightly against her and kissed his cheek. "I thought you were never coming back. Where have you been? Why won't you answer our owls?"

"Y-y-y-you're n-not m-mad?"

"Of course not! I've been praying to see you again for two years now! I'm not angry with you sweetheart, I'm just sad because I've missed you and your father and I didn't think you'd ever come home and no matter how hopeful we tried to be we still knew that we'd lost our son."

Quirrell burst into tears and cried on his mother's shoulder.

"It's okay sweetheart, sshhhh, I'm so happy to see you again!"

Quirrell's dad had heard some commotion from the backyard and came to the front door wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and well worn gardening gloves. "What's going on?"

"H-h-hi dad." Quirrell looked at his dad from his mom's shoulder and gave him a watery smile.

"QUIRINUS!" His father went to the other side of him and held Quirrell behind him and a bit to the side so Quirrell was fully enveloped in his parents' arms. "Where have you been? Why wouldn't you tell us what was going on?"

Quirrell let a few more tears out on his mom's shoulder and croaked, "I th-thought y-y-you h-hated m-me. I-I n-never got y-your owls. I-I th-th-think my s-secur-rity is t-too g-good." He stood there with his family on their doorstep being held by them and crying for what must have been five minutes before his mom backed away.

"So, what have you been doing?" she asked. Quirrell's mom was slightly shorter than he was but he looked frightened at having to answer her.

"Let him calm down a little bit, Lydia. I'm sure it's hard to try and come back after so long."

"Fine then, Quentin."

Quirrell's dad, Quentin, let go of Quirrell and then hugged him again, this time in the normal position like Lydia had been in. Quirrell recovered from his crying and was about to relax when his dad started sobbing on him.

"D-d-dad?"

"I just want you to know Quirinus, whatever it is you did, or whatever it is that you're scared of telling us about what's been going on these last couple of years know that we're going to still love and accept you and listen to what you're going to say."

"H-h-how d-did you kn-know I-I'm s-s-sscared?"

"Your mom and I have always known that you have a stutter from school reports but you've never actually stuttered in front of us before today because we were a source of comfort and confidence to you, and I never want that to change. You may have done something we won't like hearing about, but you are still our son and as your family we're here to support and love you, not punish you. You're not getting disowned or screamed at or hit or anything nasty. We've never abused or hurt you but I can tell from your stutter and shaking that you're truly afraid of us. Your mom told me about Azkaban and how it can affect you and I'm guessing that after you got out of there you thought so differently of us that you couldn't stand to come back home, right?"

"Hmmhmm."

Quentin gave him one last squeeze before stepping back and holding Quirrell's hand. "So whatever it is you need to say, how about you come on in and have absolutely no fears from us? Sound good?" Quirrell nodded and followed him inside. The front door shut and Alexia opened the window to the living room so her and Voldemort could still hear what was going on.

Quirrell sat on the couch and faced his parents who were curled up on the loveseat. Toothless, the family black cat who had eyes exactly like Toothless's eyes from _How to Train Your Dragon_, leapt up onto Quirrell's lap. Quirrell took a deep breath and pet the cat while trying to figure out where he should start his story. "So, I'm gay."

"We've known this since you were ten," said Lydia. Quentin nodded and gestured for Quirrell to go on.

"I, erm, well, I kinda got with someone you're not gonna expect."

Lydia guessed "Yaxley the Death Eater?" at the same time Quentin guessed "That wizard kid named Harry Potter who's all over the papers your mom gets and is way too young for you but looks exactly your age?"

"NO!" Quirrell blushed and laughed so hard Toothless fell off of him. "It's ah, hmm, someone named, er, Tom."

Much to Quirrell's surprise Lydia cracked up and Quentin's eyes widened as his mouth fell open into a perfect 'o'. "I never thought you two would get together but it's perfect!" he said.

Quirrell looked as shocked as his dad, "Wait, you guys are fine?"

"Wow, we joked about it but we never thought you'd do it!" said Lydia through her laughter.

"You did? You guys actually joked about it?"

"Of course we did, how couldn't we?" asked Quentin with a smirk. "After those googly eyes and awkward flirting that summer evening how would we ever forget that pizza delivery kid's face? And now it turns out he really was gay!"

Down in the flowers under the window, Voldemort and Alexia were biting their hands so their laughter wouldn't be heard. Chests aching and headaches starting to set on, they tried to listen to the rest of the conversation without screaming with mirth.

"WHAT? No! No- oh my gosh that guy? I haven't seen the guy in years! I can't believe you still remember that! Wrong Tom!"

His parents straightened up and Lydia said, "Well then, if it wasn't that Tom, then who is it?"

"Um, well, I met him back when Voldemort was living on the back of my head."

"Really?" Lydia frowned. "I thought that when someone possessed you you couldn't remember anything later about it. But you met the guy you're dating now?"

"Er, yes." Quirrell squirmed and looked down at Toothless, who had gotten on top of him again. "And this is the part where I need no interruptions or panicking. Um, this is why I didn't come back and talk to you guys right away aside from how I felt after Azkaban." His parents nodded and subconsciously cuddled closer together as Quirrell continued to talk.

"The reason I remember everything is because I wasn't technically possessed. I let that blip of Voldemort's soul attach to mine. I actually went _looking_ for him so I could perhaps join him or learn from him. I wanted him, and I didn't object to the plan to kill Harry and get him a body back. I helped with the whole thing. I can actually look back and admit that the extent of my discomfort was how annoying Voldemort could be when I didn't have a single moment alone from him." Quirrell could tell that his parents were frozen in shock at him admitting he was fine with killing Harry and he kept going before someone spoke.

"There was one night during the school year last year when I went out to Hogsmeade to have a bit of a drink and when I came back I was pretty tipsy. I had actually been so tipsy I had tried flirting with girls for once. Anyways, I got back and Voldemort was feeling the effects of it too and that made him really talkative. Before then he hadn't been very human or open, he actually told me that he normally never was to anyone. He started talking about his feelings and I did too and long story short we had basically fallen in friendship with one another. The next morning we still felt the same way and we had a steady and strong friendship building. Christmas drew near and we ironed out the plan to kill Harry. Everything was great, we had the kid in the graveyard, and I wouldn't have gone to Azkaban if it hadn't been for Voldemort killing Cedric.

"It is true that he killed him and that I was released from Azkaban earlier because all charges had been dropped; Voldemort was officially proven back because of his dead body and they believed he did it. However, he used my body to cast the spell to kill Cedric and I let it happen. I may as well have killed him. That being said, I did feel sad about that in Azkaban, well, I felt sad about everything in there. I've gotten over and repented of my ways and changed for the better. And I'm not the only one who has."

Lydia looked extremely pale and Quirrell could tell that she knew where this was going while Quentin still looked confused.

"When Voldemort split from me in the graveyard we had been best friends for awhile. His soul had already been torn so many times in his life by Horcruxes, which I'm sure have been made public knowledge by now-" Lydia nodded "-so when he left my body a bit tore off then too. Not because he on purpose made me a Horcrux, but because for the first time in his life he'd bonded with someone as a friend and we'd been so attached to each other, pun intended, that a bit stuck to me. When Harry killed him again the piece inside of me acted as his Horcruxes had the first time and grounded him here, only this time he has a body. And he's living with me. And his name is actually Tom Riddle." At last Quentin understood too and looked as shocked as possible.

Lydia bit her lip and tried to find a way to not screech at Quirrell but a way to express her concern. "So Voldemort is your boyfriend. You supposedly taught the dark lord how to love. Are you sure? I'm pretty sure he's using you. How would you ever prove or know that he cares about you and isn't just building strength to rise up again, Quirinus? God, you're so naïve!"

"Wait." Quentin looked at Quirrell for a long time and said, "I know that Voldemort is the worst thing to happen in the magical community for decades and that his death was celebrated with more gusto than the queen's jubilee, but if there was someone who could teach a broken person to love, it's Quirinus. And if there's anyone who would know love when they see and feel it, it's Quirinus. I believe you, son."

Lydia's body was tense as she said, "You don't really know much about Voldemort, Quinn. What if he's controlling your mind, huh? And speaking of that, why would you ever be okay with killing anyone, and a student at that?! I don't believe this. I can't believe this. You ought to turn Voldemort in to the wizard cops once you get home! I'd do so but you'd hide him, wouldn't you?"

Quirrell wanted to cry. "I can prove it to you, mom. Would you like to meet him? Would you like Scarfy to come here and tell you that our love is real and that he's okay now?"

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT THAT RACIST MURDERER IN MY HOUSE? CALL SCARFY IF YOU INSIST! FINE. BUT NEVER HIM!"

Quirrell sniffled and pulled his cell phone out and texted Scarfy. Scarfy appeared less than ten seconds later on his shoulders. "Hey Lydia! Hey Lydia's bicurious husband! I heard there was a problem here?"

"YES," snapped Lydia.

"Keep your panties on, sheesh! What is it?"

"Um, my parents don't think that Voldemort and I are, um, legit."

"Oh." Scarfy looked Lydia in the eye and said, "I've talked to him and Quirrell a couple times together and separately and they really are in love. I've known Tom since he was 11. He has the ability to care for others but he ignored the core of his humanity for years. Quirrell awakened a part of him that allowed him to learn to love again and I can proudly say that they have one of the sweetest and strongest relationships I've ever seen."

"Lydia, they're telling the truth, I can feel it," said Quentin.

She shook her head. "I want to believe that Voldemort can be good. I want to believe that my son doesn't out his life and sanity in the way every moment he spends with that serial killer, but it's impossible!"

"Well sweetie, if you want to have the most real proof I can give you, Voldemort and his and Quirinus's adopted daughter are listening in on this outside in the plants," said Scarfy.

"WHAT? I- WHATEVER. IF THEY'RE HERE THEN BRING THEM IN!" Quirrell flinched at his mother's loud voice and hoped that she would at least accept Alexia.

Voldemort walked in holding Alexia's hand and the two of them stood in the entrance of the living room. Quentin believed Quirrell but couldn't help trying to make himself scarce by curling up into a small ball next to his wife and draping a blanket over himself to hide most of his body.

"Hi," said Alexia.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Lydia.

"I guess you were a bit preoccupied by the idea of Voldemort so you didn't hear. I'm Quirrell and Voldy's adopted daughter."

"And exactly how brainwashed are you?"

"Zero percent. I chose to live with them when it was offered to me. I'm empathic and I could tell I'd be safe."

"Hmmhmm. Prove it. None of you can! I trust my son, and I trust Scarfy, but I can't accept or trust you," she said looking at Voldemort.

"That's alright." Voldemort gazed affectionately at Quirrell as he said, "Coming here today was about Quirrell. He wanted to see you and bond with you again because you're his family and he misses you. None of this is really about me. It would certainly help if you believed that I love and care for your son but it isn't required. I'm not sure how I could ever prove it aside from maybe letting you into our minds to see it."

"That could work." Lydia stood up and Alexia took her place beside Quentin, who gave her a warm smile similar to Quirrell's own and put an arm around her. Lydia crossed her arms and stood inches from Voldemort. "Show me something that's supposed to convince me."

Voldemort established a connection with her mind and drew up memories for her to see.

_The night Voldemort came back to take Quirrell from Azkaban was chilly, but Voldemort could hardly feel it. He was holding Quirrell and marveling at how thin the poor thing was. Quirrell put his head on Voldemort's shoulder and the two stood there until Quirrell mentioned that he had a place for them to stay._

_It was an ordinary day in the life of Voldemort and Quirrell. Quirrell came home from work and Voldemort kissed him and hugged him and asked how his day at the muggle school went. Quirrell yawned and said he was tired and Voldemort promised to make him dinner. The scene shifted to them eating and cuddling on the couch and watching some movie they hadn't seen before._

_Quirrell walked in carrying Alexia in his arms and the night they decided to adopt her from her uncle floated by._

_Voldemort had a strong love of dancing and he smiled happily as Quirrell mastered the waltz with him in their living room. He stared counting in different languages to screw Quirrell up and they laughed when he finally stumbled._

Voldemort knew he had to show some of his mess ups and how they were resolved to give Quirrell's mom a comprehensive picture so he threw a few in with the next memories he had to share.

_An unexplainable sort of bitterness was coursing through Voldemort as he found a dirty sock on the floor and screeched at Quirrell for it. More of his moody tempers swirled by in the shared memories including when he told Quirrell 'What use are you if you can't even bear my children?!'_

_Two nights ago when Voldemort had his remorse attack surfaced and he relived the agony his soul repairing had caused. His vision was blurred and his body burned with pain as the emotions exploded in his head and made him scream and cry and vomit blood. Quirrell was there beside him with tears in his eyes as he tried to comfort Voldemort. He would have died if Quirrell hadn't been there to offer support and give him a reason to live. Voldemort explained what happened to him and Quirrell told him how he'd been feeling and they made up, concluding the terrible event with the first kiss they'd had in weeks._

_The nightmares they shared the same night were brought up and Voldemort nearly broke the connection they hurt so much to show. Quirrell's broken heart as he stared down at Voldemort's exposed corpse in the snow and Voldemort desperately calling for Quirrell to come back out of his dead empty shell made Voldemort physically ache. The dreams ended and Voldemort and Quirrell were holding each other and crying on their bed as they clung to their soul mate to try and comfort the other. Reassurances were made and they finally called each other by their first names. _

_Time went backwards to the night when Alexia had Tom over for truth or dare and Quirrell came downstairs in a skirt. Voldemort found him extremely attractive and accepted the representation of the girly qualities Quirrell had along with the possibility of some playfulness with that skirt in the future. Also, he couldn't stop mentally petting Quirrell's smooth legs._

_A blip of August 5__th__ popped up and it was just enough to show that Voldemort loved Quirrell and could be very affectionate and that Quirrell and he would have sex only if both were willing and both were sweet and as gentle as needed with the other._

_The final memory was of when Voldemort needed to buy Alexia pads and he called Scarfy. He pulled the beautiful wedding ring out of Scarfy and thought of how Quirrell would always think of him when he saw it and how perfect it was to give the love of his life._

Voldemort disconnected his mind from Quirrell's mom and opened his eyes to feel tears streaming down his face and tears overflowing her eyes as well. Lydia brought him in close to her and held him like she would Quirrell.

"Tried and true then, he loves our Quirinus?" asked Quentin. Lydia nodded and squeezed Voldemort tighter.

"I'm far from perfect, and we have had a few bad times, but yes, tried and true, I love him deeply and with all of myself, Mr. Quirrell. And also, I know that you know of me and my, er, past, but I don't have any problem with you being a muggle. I'm past that shit."

"Whew." Quentin visibly relaxed beneath his blanket. "Thank goodness. And please, call me Quentin."

"There's just one thing I have to ask." Lydia stepped back from Voldemort and looked at Quirrell, who was smiling with relief at her finally believing them. "Now I saw a snapshot of this from his mind, but I can't call myself your mother if I don't ask you about this too.

"When the two of you have sex, he's very careful and doesn't hurt you or force you to do anything you don't want, right?"

"_**MOTHER!"**_ Quirrell blushed beet red and nearly started stuttering again. "Y-yes! We're good! Holy fucking shit I've never been so embarrassed! Our kid's in the room!"

Scarfy snorted. "Like she doesn't think about you two cuties already." Alexia blushed and Quentin pretended that he was very interested in a loose string on the couch cushion.

"I had to ask Quirinus! What kind of mother would I be if I didn't make sure you two were being safe and consensual?"

"One that doesn't spontaneously ask about my sex life in front of others!"

"Exactly. And what kind of mom isn't embarrassing?"

Quirrell rolled his eyes as Voldemort laughed. "And you! Voldemort! You started it, why'd you have to show her that, huh?"

"I was giving her a full picture of our life together and confirming that we do make love." Voldemort sat down beside Quirrell and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Physical affection is important and I needed to make sure that she knew you weren't being denied it. I also showed her the remorse attack, our nightmares, us dancing, the night you brought me to your home from Azkaban. Loads of stuff."

Quirrell chuckled darkly as a thought entered his mind on how to get back at Voldemort. "And did you by any chance show her that fantastic outfit you wore to parent teacher conferences?"

Alexia threw her head back and laughed and Lydia raised her eyebrows. "Okay mom, come here for a sec so I can send you this image I have of him imprinted on my brain forever."

"Oh no," groaned Voldemort.

"Welcome to the family," said Quentin as he put an arm around Alexia's shoulders.

**Wow, I think this is my longest chapter ever!**

I wanted to give you guys a good picture of Tyler this chapter so that him and Damian are more rounded out characters. I like the idea of having someone who's actually supposed to sound American in with all these people in England who... sound American because Starkid kept most of their accents when making this. So to me, it's funny to have all these English people sounding American and then when someone from America who can't lose their accent shows up everyone's like 'LOL YOU'RE FROM THE STATES AREN'T YOU' 'DAMN YOU ACCENT!' Also, Tyler making his own wand explains why he has such a great tie to his magic if he used the perfect wand from the start, and one he made at that.

Quirrell's parents made this long by all the talking but I hope you guys liked it. I wanted it to not be rushed and um, this is over 6k so it may have dragged but hey, parents.

**Comments? :D **


	30. Chapter 32

**Hey ya'll1 Quick note, this is a T fic but in here I wind up mentioning some rather sexual things. Nothing happens, there isn't anything extremely specific but there is some talk. Not much but enough I feel I should say HEY.**

"Good afternoon, class! Today I'm going to give you an assignment to conclude our work on the Greek and Roman pantheons. Each of you will sign up on the clipboard I've set in the front of the class to be a hero, creature, or god. You will have the entire week to prepare, and this Friday you will come to class in character and hopefully in costume and present yourself to the class and teach us about yourself. This is how we're reviewing for your test next week so I'd advise you all to take notes. Go!"

Quirrell smiled at his class as the group rushed up to the board to try and get their favorite character. He hadn't stuttered once the whole day and his stomach fluttered with happiness to think that he had a warm and loving boyfriend to come home to. His mom and dad had fed him quite the dinner the night before and he had surprised himself by eating two whole plates of food plus dessert. Voldemort had coaxed him into eating a substantial breakfast this morning and Quirrell could feel the positive effect eating regularly had on him. He didn't feel hungry enough to try and eat lunch in ten minutes but he thought he could probably eat a snack. Voldemort would be happy to know he ate a little bit during the school day.

The school bell rang out its dull door chime theme and his students all ran out the door as fast as they could to make it to lunch. Quirrell himself picked up his coat and keys and strolled out of the classroom, locking the door once outside. His good mood made him walk down the halls of the school with a spring in his step for the first time in months until he saw one of the older teachers give him a glare that held nothing but loathing.

Goodbye good mood.

Quirrell shrunk beneath their look, unsure if it was because he had a stutter or was gay or taught what was generally considered a shit subject or if it was some other bad thing about him. He sped up his pace and felt the same sad, worthless feeling he was used to choke out his previous happy one. He altered his course and headed for the least used men's bathroom.

"Quirinus?" Devin rounded the corner in front of him and noticed his expression. "Are you okay?"

"I-I, uh." Fucking stutter.

"Was it a faculty member?"

"Erm." Quirrell's look was enough for her to know.

"Hey, it'll be okay." Devin gave him a hug and Quirrell subconsciously snuggled into her arms. "When I walked by your class earlier today you seemed to be doing just fine and no one should ruin your day like this."

"I-It's m-my f-f-fault, i-it's f-fine. U-u-uder-st-standable."

"NO." Devin gave his back a gentle pat and said, "No it isn't fine. Just because someone doesn't like you for a part of yourself that you can't change like your orientation or occasional stutter doesn't mean they have the right to make you feel bad. You did nothing wrong and they ought to feel ashamed of themselves, especially with all of the crap you've had to put up with as late." She backed away and got a sort of fierce look on her face that made Quirrell uncomfortable.

"Um." Damn, he really was a failure today. What did he expect, that after he finally knew he was loved by Voldemort and his family that the rest of the world would treat him okay? One person gave him a look and now he was falling to shambles. It was the sort of thing ten year olds would talk about to a counselor, not a full grown adult. Devin was walking down the hall and Quirrell tried to call to her. "H-hey! Wh-what're y-you doing?"

"I need to have a word with some of our coworkers."

"O-okay." He gave her a shaky smile and walked the opposite direction to the men's bathroom. One in he locked a stall, closed the toilet seat and sat down.

Devin was supposedly somewhere, like the staff lounge, having a go at other staff members for making him feel bad. Quirrell wanted to throw up. He _was_ pathetic and girly and it was fine that they don't like him. Everyone liked Devin and here she was going out and ruining her god rep just for him.

Maybe though.

Maybe she was right.

Voldemort had turned around, hadn't he? He said that everyone, including himself, was stupid for making fun of him.

Until now, sitting in a bathroom stall and thinking about something an ex dark lord had said and what a health teacher was doing at the moment, it had never really occurred to Quirrell that his tormentors weren't right. Or at least, that being sensitive was okay and that it wasn't just Voldemort trying to cheer him up about his faults or a coworker wanting to make him feel better. As a person he could have some feminine qualities and have nervous stutter and date a man and there isn't anything wrong with that. Devin was actually going to go out there and show far more courage than Quirrell could for himself and stand up to others for his benefit because she believed he shouldn't suffer.

Okay, he needed to see this. He stood up and walked quickly out of the bathroom and slowed down as he got near the lounge to hear what Devin was saying. He stopped a little ways down the hallway and strained his ears to hear.

"…I don't really care if you find his stutter annoying or distracting, but if you make fun of him for it, being something he can't control, then you cannot call yourself a teacher. If you make fun of anyone for that matter, or make them feel bad about parts of themselves like their orientation, religion, race, gender, or _anything_, then you cannot call yourself a teacher. If you let someone in front of you harass someone else about themselves then you cannot call yourself a teacher. As a teacher, you are supposed to promote a safe environment for others and teach people not only your subject, but how to treat others and show what's acceptable in life. Ya'll better treat Quirinus with respect, as well as each other and your students. But particularly Quirinus. He's so nervous around most of his that his stutter kicks in, yet he's perfectly fine around most kids and many of them enjoy his class. He deserves respect as much as you do whether he's gay or not. Clear?"

There was an appropriately abashed murmur of agreement through the room and Devin left them to ponder what she'd said. When she turned out to the hallway she smiled at Quirrell and gave him a bag of chips from the vending machine.

"The least I could do was get you a snack."

They walked side by side down the hall and Quirrell felt his happy mood return, something only the feeling of being wanted and accepted could bring.

"You did much more than that, Devin. Thank you."

**NBTGIRSL;KFWN;EIOPTHGFN BA'EOTIHGFLKBMHJD;RPODSPDGHIOTJGKFLS;RFTI**

Voldemort had never met Tyler, and he'd only been recently acquainted with Damian again, and his desire to have a clean house drove him to dust and vacuum the place so well it looked new. He shifted furniture in the living room, office, dining room, his and Quirrell's bedroom, and everything went well until he got to Alexia's room.

As a general rule he and Quirrell left her stuff alone, and he promised himself he wouldn't touch anything except to move her bed so he could get the dust under it that was likely collecting.

He pushed the bed towards the window and stubbed his toe on something small and solid. Voldemort turned the vacuum off and knelt down to pick up what he'd hurt his foot on. His hand fit around the small object and he pulled out what turned out to be a paperback book.

A book titled _'Vanilla, Kinks, and Trigger Points'_.

Voldemort's eyes widened and he blanched as his mind processed that he was holding a porn novel in his hand. Well, on one hand, it was understandable that Alexia would want to, erm, explore things, and she knew everything from Scarfy anyways, but it still made him uncomfortable.

He got on his stomach and fished out a large collection of mostly paperback books along the same theme. Some of them seemed like they might not focus on sex so much and appeared to be detective novels such as _'Curious Case'_ and _'Rubik's Cube'_. Others were perhaps more along the lines of romance with some sex thrown in like _'Of Autumn and Candlelight'_, _'The Road Less Taken'_, and _'Just Like in the Movies'_. Then there were the ones he needed to have a talk with Alexia about, a few being _'Veela Boy'_, _'The Joy of Pain'_, _The Game of Pleasure'_, _'Forseen Seduction'_, _'The Pureblood Dominants'_, and _'Whips and Wands'_. _'50 Shades of Grey'_ was also there, as Voldemort expected, but since there was a sticky note on it that made Voldemort chuckle he decided he could let her slide on that one. _'Worst $5 I ever spent- I don't know what I expected from straight people'_

When all the books were out and sitting on the bed he did another quick pass over the floor with his fingertips to check for anything else that could get in the way of the vacuum. He found a packet of notebook paper and he grabbed it and almost wished he hadn't.

_'__Voldemort is Goin' Down__. Just a few headcanons of mine I wrote down when I got bored.'_

Voldemort blushed darkly as he started reading Alexia's smut. Hot DAMN this was some good stuff, and 17 pages long at that! Quirrell was the one topping and he felt himself getting aroused by the images it provided of him and Quirrell, something he hadn't had in what felt like ages. When he finished he was shaky and craving Quirrell's body so badly he wasn't certain he could ever get the heat out of himself, and he was also embarrassed that something his 12 year old wrote would affect him so.

He shook his head and unsuccessfully tried to block out his thoughts on Quirrell. Casting magic seemed like a bad idea since his mind was so distracted so he made a couple of trips with books down to the dining room table, setting them right where he could talk to Alexia about them when he got home.

For now, while he had a few hours to kill and cleaning was basically done, he curled up with _'Lemon Pie'_ to get his mind off of Quirrell. Boy howdy did it work.

"And that ladies and gentlemen is why you should vote for me, your perfect 4.0, organized and responsible class president candidate!"

The crowd in the auditorium cheered as Tom and Alexia groaned. "These speeches are so boring, who cares about your grades?" grumbled Alexia.

"I know. Even I could write a better speech for running for student cabinet."

Alexia grinned. "Yeah, and I could draw cool posters for you!"

"Um what?" Tom looked worried as he said, "You actually think I should run?"

"Hey, the speeches today are the ones for 7th graders running for 8th grade office, the speeches for people our year running for 7th grade office are next week, there's plenty of time to sign up and get a campaign ready."

"I know I wouldn't get elected but that sounds really fun! I can show everyone what a speech should look like! You'll let me rehearse in front of you though, so I won't have a break down in front of everyone?"

"Sure!" The bell rang, dismissing everyone from the end of the day assembly. "See ya!"

**58GFKMRGFKLWPJELRF,"Srljhu6903]gnbisefjghn'r;gjkh5 60UWREYGHJSFDSEOTRHGYN**

"Hello!" Voldemort tossed _'Lemon Pie'_ on the dining room table with all the other books and strode over to the door to meet Quirrell and Alexia as they came in. He pecked Quirrell on the lips and hugged him closely. Quirrell didn't flinch, which relieved Voldemort, but he did feel his heart rate skyrocket meaning he was still nervous. Voldemort stepped back and said, "I need to have a talk with you, Alexia, and I think that you should come over here too, Quirrell."

"What did I do?"

Voldemort ran his fingers through his hair and shifted his feet. "You're not in trouble, I'm just trying to figure out how this happened and um, why you didn't tell me. I'm not mad I'm just sort of uncomfortable."

"Alright." Alexia still looked confused and Voldemort guessed she really thought that the bed was such a good hiding place that he'd never find her stuff. Voldemort led them out to the dining room table.

"Again, I'm not mad, but-"

"VOLDEMORT WHY THE HELL ARE THOSE OUT ON THE TABLE WE HAVE COMPANY IN AN HOUR! PUT THOSE BACK!" blurted out Quirrell. "I NEVER TOLD YOU BECAUSE I HAVEN'T NEEDED THEM SINCE I HAVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU DON'T SEE ME DIFFERENTLY I MEAN ROMANCE IS GOOD BUT SOMETIMES A GUY HAS NEEDS!"

Alexia picked up _'Veela Boy'_ and whistled. "I don't know why you thought these were mine, but I think I might like this one."

Voldemort looked between Quirrell and Alexia. "WHAT? If they're yours, why did I find them under Alexia's bed?"

'_That would be usssssssss,'_ hissed Belinda. _'I wasssss confusssssed about how you two mate but never have offsssssssspring and Alicccce found those booksssssss and they sssserved asssssssssss a good way to educate me. Sssssshe then wanted to be misssssssschievousssssssssssss and hid them under Alexia'sssssssssss bed.'_

Alice hopped over and translated for Alexia, who then looked half frustrated and half amused. "I could have gotten in big trouble you know!"

Voldemort was relieved. "Well, that certainly explains this." He held up the sticky note from _'50 Shades of Grey'_ and said, "I didn't think Alexia would care about whether the characters were straight or not, but it makes sense if this didn't float your boat because there's nothing you'd find particularly exciting."

Quirrell's face was already red and it darkened. "Well, you can see from some of the others that I don't mind reading about some kinks and stuff, but that one was a combination of the writing not being my thing and yeah I prefer erotica I can relate to as a gay male."

"One last thing before I clear this stuff off of the table. I thought Alexia did it, and I think I can safely assume now that this wasn't her." Voldemort held up _'Voldemort is Goin' Down'_ and Quirrell laughed.

"Oh, hahahaaaaaha, um, that was Scarfy."

"I never thought I'd be so relieved to know that Scarfy wrote out a long sex scene about us." Alexia picked up Alice and walked to her room with her and Belinda so she could give Voldemort and Quirrell the privacy she got the feeling they needed. Voldemort put his hands on Quirrell's waist and whispered, "I read it, and I have to admit, I wouldn't mind a night very similar to it."

Quirrell's eyes widened and he blushed the darkest Voldemort had ever seen a human blush. "You mean it? You like the idea of me, you know, being the one in control?"

"I was, and still am, quite aroused by the thought of you taking me for a night and having no nonsense about it. In fact, since it's been so long and you're still getting used to me again, that's likely how our next time will go, because I don't want to push you or get into something you can't handle but feel you have to do. This way, you'd be perfectly okay because you'd dictate how our evening would go." Quirrell gave Voldemort a gentle but long kiss on the lips.

"I didn't think you'd be so understanding."

"I took the skirt thing well; I think I can be okay with finding out you have an impressive stash of lonely bachelor type books and that you need to lead next time." Voldemort nuzzled Quirrell's cheek and Quirrell did the same to him. "Also, I read part of the lemon one and there's a few scenes we could act out someday, I think."

"Pages 46 and 78, I'm guessing?"

"No clue, but whatever it is it'll be good."

Quirrell helped Voldemort carry the books up to his room and they stacked them under the bed.

"I'm going to go and stick my head in a bucket of ice water before Damian and Tyler get here. Maybe then my blush will go away and I'll quit imagining you tied down somewhere." Voldemort chuckled and gave Quirrell another quick kiss before letting him go to get rid of his red face.

**AN HOUR LATER**

Damian held onto Tyler's arm as Tyler apparated them to the address Damian had gotten from Voldemort's letter. He worked his hooves deeper into his tennis shoes and was impressed to find out that the apparition hadn't messed up the fit up at all. His hat was another story and he worked to get it to fit over his horns again.

"This is it, yes?"

"I hope so. I haven't been here before either, silly." Tyler rolled his eyes and Damian poked him in the side. "Relax. I trust my instincts; Tom's okay now. Never doubt my sixth sense of knowing when someone's lying or not, it came with my job."

Tyler half smiled. "It amuses me that you still call him Tom, you know?"

"I've been calling him Tom since I was four. Since he hasn't found out he's a girl and asked to be called something different I'm going to keep calling him Tom."

"Alright." Tyler sighed and wandlessly rang the doorbell before they'd reached the steps. Quirrell opened the door right as they got up to it and Tyler gave him a strained smile.

"Hello! Come on in, get acquainted," said Quirrell. "Nice shirt, Damian."

Damian grinned. "Thanks. I figured the local muggles would appreciate it if they didn't have to see a shirtless satyr-thing today. And why not go dressy?" The knit hat that he wore everywhere clashed with the white button down shirt and black slacks he had on but it was subtle enough that Scarfy would have approved it.

"So." Tyler spotted Voldemort walking into the entryway. "You're not evil, eh?"

"I was but I got better."

"I believe you, because I have absolute confidence in Damian's judgment and your physical changes could explain your mental and emotional change. I'm just a bit on edge."

"Understandable." Quirrell awkwardly shifted his feet and looked between the two of them as they either shared information via willing legimency or they were in the mood for a stare down. The silence between them stretched on and on until Damian couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey Tom, I brought something that I think you might remember from a long time ago."

"Huh? Really?" Voldemort and Tyler still looked uneasy as they all stared expectantly at Damian.

"Yeah. It was sort of life changing when I found out about it, and I hope you remember it. Otherwise, this is going to be really odd." Damian reached into a deep pocket in his dress pants and asked, "Ready?"

Voldemort's unease rose. "Yes, I think?" He had no guesses as to what Damian could possibly have since he clearly remembered packing everything he owned once he'd left.

"Here it is."

Damian pulled out an innocent looking plastic Ziploc baggie with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich inside of it. He and Voldemort exchanged one second of eye contact before roaring with laughter, joined by Quirrell moments later. Tyler stared at the sandwich with utter confusion as what appeared to be an inside joke from decades ago unfolded in front of him.

**Yeah, remember that plotbunny I planted back in ohhh, chapter 16 or so? Yep, finally finished it! Q's novel collection! All of those book titles are fanfiction titles that I've seen on ff, most of them (but not all) are smut fics or have smut in them, and I have read most but not all of them. Voldemort is Goin' Down is by frecleface here on ff and you should totally read it.**

This is an oddball bridgey type chapter but I hope it was enjoyable anyways.

Commentsies?


	31. Chapter 33

**I've been having a really bad last week and a half filled with coughing, blowing my nose, missing school, and crying, and I'm telling you right now that it's pretty obvious I haven't been feeling well. So my apologies for the quality slip and mental images you're about to get and I hope you still enjoy it anyways even if it seems like it's from early 2012.**

"There's something I'm missing, isn't there?" asked Tyler as Voldemort, Quirrell, and Damian continued to laugh. Damian handed him the sandwich and doubled over in mirth.

Alexia came downstairs with a grin on her face and asked, "Hey, what's so funny?" Tyler shrugged and held up the baggie.

Quirrell recovered the fastest and said, "It's a thing from their orphanage days, Voldemort told me about it. It's um, hard to explain. You don't wanna know."

Damian and Voldemort made eye contact again and keep going until it died down to breathless giggles. "Hey Tom, can I ask you something about said orphanage days somewhere alone?" asked Damian.

"Sure. Is the backyard fine?"

"Yeah." Voldemort followed Damian outside while Tyler got acquainted with Alexia and Quirrell.

Voldemort led Damian to a nice secluded spot in Quirrell's garden and sat on the grass. Damian took his dress pants off and plopped down next to Voldemort, holding them on his lap.

"So then, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Damian shifted and absentmindedly stroked some grass. "I didn't say it inside because it sounds odd and I'm not sure that anyone knows about it anymore. I'm not sure that you even remember this. Anyways, remember when we were little, and when you were dancing or were really cheerful you could shoot sparkles out of your fingertips? You've been happy lately since you're going to marry Quirrell and you have a daughter and we're friends again but I haven't seen a single sparkle."

"Oh."

"You do remember this, right?"

"Yeah. I do." Voldemort looked uncomfortable and Damian gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Is everything okay? Got a bee in your bonnet, tick in your dick? Hey man, whatever it is, you can tell me, alright? I've known you since you were five and had a thing for capturing female stingerless bees and throwing them down people's shirts and watching them panic. I can pretty much guarantee that nothing you say can be too embarrassing."

Voldemort grinned and scooted closer to Damian and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I can pinpoint when I basically stopped shooting sparkles, and I've never gotten over what happened that day, and I've never told anyone about it either. I mean, I had some sparkles a little bit after this but they were really rare and were only for a little while after this happened. I'm not proud of what I did, and I don't think anyone would understand why I did it. Maybe you would though, since it was a family thing."

"Ah."

"I found my muggle father's family. I killed them. My father, my grandma, and my grandpa."

"Oh." Damian frowned and said, "Why?"

"I've never told anyone about it because of why. They-they asked for it, I think. I went to see my father and meet my family and they treated me like shit." Voldemort bit his lip and stared down at the grass.

"I'm not going to agree that killing them was the best thing to do, you know this, but I think you should talk about what hurt you so badly that you are never fully happy anymore."

"Promise you won't laugh at what they said?"

Damian spit into the hand he didn't have on Voldemort shoulder and said, "Yes."

Voldemort mimicked Damian and they shook on it. "Okay then, so here's what happened.

"Dumbledore was being a little bit like you are right now and was trying to figure out why I was so unhappy and filled with hate. I'm not hate filled now but I was back then in my school days, as evident through my lack of respect for anyone and the amount of torturing and harming I did. He was talking to me and when he implied that I was gay he said, 'My family never really accepted me.' and I said, 'WELL AT LEAST YOU HAD A FAMILY!' and I broke down and long story short he had found my father and suspended me so I could go and spend Christmas with the Riddles."

"Wait, he suspended you over Christmas so you could leave?"

"Haha, yeah he did. It was unnecessary because you're free to leave anytime over break that you want, but I guess he wanted me to have to go. I got on my motorcycle and drove off to Little Hangleton and it was the happiest afternoon I'd ever had. My grandpa was a bit crazy and had bowel issues and my grandma seemed a bit homophobic since she'd yelled at a boy to get off her lawn and said he was a homo, but I was fine. This was my family. I would warm up to them and them to me and my daddy would get home and they'd love and accept me so long as I'd love and accept them. Grandma had some fresh chocolate chip cookies baked and I could hang out in an upstairs bedroom, one I fantasized could be mine someday soon, and write to my diary about how I felt. I was so happy to feel loved and not be tempted to hurt anything or anyone and the world couldn't have been better.

"Then my dad got home and we sat down to dinner and, uh…"

"It all went to hell?" asked Damian.

"Yeah. My dad hated my mom and said she was ugly inside and out, with a nose like mine. It turns out that she apparently got him drunk and that he never wanted me. No one thought that dancing was a good thing and my grandpa yelled at me for not having a girlfriend. I went there thinking that they were a wizarding family and finding out that they were muggles was a nasty surprise when I was told that magic isn't real and that my mom was on drugs and that I must be too and just think magic is real because of it." Voldemort sniffled and continued, "My father put me in a trashcan after I was born and my grandma fished me out of it and took me to that orphanage, but she said, 'So sue me, I didn't know he would turn out like… you know.' I was crying by this point because this was all overwhelming and my grandpa harassed me about crying and my grandma said it was because I wasn't a real man and I-I just fucking SNAPPED. I wanted to be loved and have a family for once in my life, and even though they were muggles I was going to try to accept them. After everything they said though, along with that damn Snicker bar thing, I was done. I killed them in one fell swoop and left Hogwarts to practice dark magic. You know the rest."

"Woah." Damian gently cupped Voldemort's cheek and raised his head up to that he could look into his now bloodshot eyes. "Look at me."

Voldemort sniffled and let out a rough cough. "To this day I feel awful. My family hated me. I was unwanted and unloved garbage and I proved exactly how terrible I was when I murdered them. Nothing can make me feel better."

"I disagree. I think I could. Would you like me to give my idea a try and maybe you feel better?"

He looked at Damian closely and decided that whatever he was going to say was probably worth hearing. If anything, it would be true and heartfelt because that was just the way Damian was. "Alright. Try me."

"Step one of operation 'make my friend feel better' starts with being able to hold him, so I'm going to need you to get on my lap."

"Um."

"Just do it."

"Fine." Voldemort smiled a little bit and crawled on top of Damian. "This is the second time this has happened to me and it doesn't feel any less weird."

"Quirrell's held you on his lap before?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent. I like him. He's good for you. Step two is where I talk to you for awhile and bring Disney into this, so pay attention and think."

"Okay." Damian held Voldemort around his waist and smiled when Voldemort rested his head on his shoulder.

"Have you ever seen Lilo and Stich?"

"No. I think I was a homeless spirit floating around Europe at the time that came out."

"Ah, well you should watch it, even though I'm about to spoil the whole thing. I'll do it without too many details though, so you won't know everything when you see it.

"It starts out with a group of aliens in outer space. This one scientist dude is getting busted for illegally creating a destructive, harmful, and clever little alien called 626. He's blue, puppy-sized, and pretty nasty and he's supposed to be exiled because he's so out of control, but he instead hijacks a vehicle and crashes down to Earth on a Hawaiian island. He gets taken to a dog shelter and then gets adopted by a little girl named Lilo who's taken care of by her older sister. He gets named Stitch.

"As I've said before though, he's a mess, a monster even. He's seen that this island is surrounded by water with no escape and the hopelessness of that doesn't do his mood any favors. Lilo tries to get him to behave by making him imitate Elvis and showing him what good behavior looks like but he can't keep it up and at the end of the day keeps hurting things. She even reads 'The Ugly Duckling' to him to try and explain what family is and it doesn't work too well. He gets the family into trouble because he successfully ruins the older sister's chance of getting a job by misbehaving and he's actually still on the run from aliens who are trying to secretly capture him again. In the end Lilo gets captured because more aliens show up and Stitch, who is finally coming around, saves her with help from some others.

"Throughout this whole movie Stitch was adapting, just slowly. He can speak English okay and he has learned to love and behave himself, as seen when he rescues her. He's far different from what he used to be and he overcame the fact that he was born to destroy. Some high authority alien comes down and realizes that Stitch has bonded with Lilo and her older sister, and upon seeing the little paper from the pet shelter says that she can't take Stitch away because it would be stealing.

"That was kind of long winded, but I needed to say that for your benefit, or anyone's really, if they haven't seen that movie.

"My point is that Stitch is like you. You're different. You've been told for as long as you can remember that you're evil after your mother died giving birth to you, which, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with her body not being able to handle a baby. It would have happened no matter who she was delivering."

"Wait a minute." Voldemort's breathing was jagged as he asked, "That wasn't my fault?"

"Nope. It totally wasn't you at all."

"Woah." Damian could tell that Voldemort's perspective on his life had just been changed considerably and continued talking so he wouldn't explode.

"Anyways, you're Stitch. You started as being feared and different and violent. At the end, that isn't what anyone cares about. Because Stitch, and you, changed found new families and ways of life. Stitch isn't 626 anymore, and you're not the dark lord Voldemort anymore. Your family isn't the people who made you or raised you, but the people who love and accept you for who you are and want to help you. It would be nice if family was always made up of parents and blood relatives, but it isn't always the case. Sometimes, you have to go out and find your family and not be restrained to only thinking blood or origin matters.

"Family is made up of friends. Stitch's family was Lilo and her sister and a few other dorks I don't feel the need to spoil for you. Your family is made up of Quirrell, Alexia, me, if I may be so bold, and maybe even your pets if you're close to them. You found them and you love them and even if some people or things had to change they're yours and nothing will break you apart. What people said to you long ago shouldn't hold power over you because they were related to you. They don't matter. It took you decades to find a family and a home, but we're here now, and no one thinks you're garbage or would ever want you to bottle your feelings up and hurt yourself.

"What happened long ago hurts, and I understand that, but don't let it ruin you, okay? The next time you hold Quirrell just think of how happy he makes you and let yourself feel truly free and joyful about your life. You should see sparkles all over the place."

Damian held Voldemort close as Voldemort sobbed on his shoulder, a need that had been steadily building over the last few minutes. "Thank you," he whispered. "You always know what to say."

"You're my friend. Of course I know what to say."

"Could you tell me another story while I ruin your shirt with my tears?" croaked Voldemort. "I-I don't want to go back inside yet."

"Sure! Got any requests?"

He hiccupped and replied, "How about when and why you picked up the phrase 'tick in your dick'? It seems like the sort of thing that unfortunately has a story behind it."

"Oh boy, it sure does. Aberforth Dumbledore has some very interesting stories to tell, and they all happen to be true."

"WHAT?" Voldemort coughed as his throat felt the repercussions of his shout. "Not that guy who was in the news years ago for doing things to goats, right? You wouldn't talk to that guy, right? Oh man, you did though, didn't you?"

Damian chuckled. "This story is a good one, because yep, I did. I heard the same things everyone else did, with the illegal charms and goat loving issues. Everybody was repulsed by this guy. Except for me. I was feeling in the mood to give losing my virginity a shot, something that I had deemed hopeless years before. If there was one person on this planet who could appreciate my body, it would be this guy.

"I went down to the Hog's Head to meet him and I sat down and chatted with him for hours, just getting to know him. He can tell some pretty wild and awesome stories. Not many people bother talking to him much so he was pretty lonely and we made fast friends. He got to that story though, which ended with him burning it out with a lighter, and I was glad that I hadn't revealed myself to be part goat, because as you can imagine, it was sort of a huge turn off. We're still good friends though, even if we hardly talk. The most our interaction gets to be is me going down every few months just to talk and him occasionally sending in some confessionals to _Witch Weekend_ _Edition_ which are interesting and scandalous enough that I can't help but put them in."

"I bet." Voldemort laughed and wiped the last of his tears away. It was awfully hard to stay sad after hearing something like that. "That probably left you feeling hopeless, but if you don't mind me saying, I think it's for the best now that you have Tyler."

"I don't have Tyler!"

"Yet," teased Voldemort.

"I'd certainly like to, but I don't. I will admit that it could happen but I'd be fine if it never does."

"You two were sending off a strong signal on Alexia's highly accurate, what do people say, shipping radar? She can feel emotions and she said she can see it happening. Just thought I'd tell you that it's a strong possibility."

"Thanks." Damian grinned and helped Voldemort stand up. He brushed the dirt and grass off of his legs and said, "I'll keep that in mind, but don't get your hopes up. We're very professional you know."

"Hmmhmm." Voldemort hugged Damian and concentrated on everything good his life. He closed his eyes and let his bright emotions flow through him, like he was about to cast a patronus. Of course he'd felt happy like this before, but it was always slightly burdened. This time he let himself feel truly joyful and let himself believe that he actually deserved it. He gave Damian a squeeze and thought about him and about Quirrell for the most part and a few seconds later he could feel brightness dancing in front of his eyelids.

"There we go!" Damian patted Voldemort on the back. "Does it feel nice?"

"You have no idea!" Voldemort pulled back and gaped at all of the sparkles in the air around them. There were always different colors every time it happened because it was such a spontaneous and random type of magic, and this time they were mostly silver.

"Hey dude, what's with your hair?"

"Huh?" Voldemort pulled a lock down to his face and somehow looked even more gleeful. "It's back to white blonde again!"

"Yeah, it's always been like that but I thought you dyed it or something."

"No, when my hair came back it was black for some reason and I just ran with it. My magic has been glitchy ever since I got this new body. I'm glad to see it's back to where it really belongs!"

"I want to go and show Quirrell my new hair, I hope he likes it." Voldemort patted it down and jogged back to the house with Damian beside him. He flung open the patio door and walked in on Quirrell, Alexia, and Tyler all playing a game of Jenga. Alexia was in the middle of pulling a block out when she started at the door opening and made the whole thing fall apart.

"Sorry," said Voldemort, who failed at looking sorry because he was still grinning widely. "Hey Quirrell!"

"Woah." Quirrell got up and ran his fingers through Voldemort's hair. "Let me get this straight, you two went outside and you cried and bleached your hair?"

"Nope! I cried about what happened when I killed my family, Damian got me to cheer up, and then I shot sparkles for the first time in years! It used to be a common thing when I was little, since it happened any time I was extremely happy or dance a lot, but after the incident with my family it pretty much stopped. But we went over it and I felt much better so I shot sparkles and then my hair turned back to what it's supposed to be." Voldemort hugged Quirrell and blushed as sparkles filled the room, rainbow colored this time.

"I wasn't expecting this," said Quirrell as he stared at the sparkles that were whizzing around.

Tyler smirked at the magical excess of happiness in the air and said, "I'm done with thinking you're a threat to me."

"I'm trying really hard to not imagine what love making will look like from now on and it's not working," groaned Alexia.

"NOOOOOO WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" howled Damian as he sank into a couch cushion and started laughing. "NO NO NO MY ABERFORTH STORY I TOLD TOM WAS A BAD ENOUGH DOSE OF MENTAL IMAGES!"

"Alexia!" exclaimed Quirrell. "You're as bad as Scarfy!"

"Damian? You have an ABERFORTH story you haven't told me?" asked Tyler. "I'm terrified to know it but you have to tell me now."

"Hmmmmmmm." Voldemort hummed as he enjoyed his embrace with Quirrell and how badly everyone's minds had deteriorated in mere seconds. "I hope you get used to seeing sparkles, Quirrell, because you're the brightest part of my life and I can't help feeling happy around you. Even if that might someday make you feel like you're being intimate with Tinkerbell."

"It's cute enough that I'm not bothered, just really surprised." Quirrell pecked Voldemort on the cheek and led him to the couch where they sat down next to Damian who wasn't done chuckling out of shame yet.

"Does anyone want to play another game of Jenga?" asked Alexia.

"With Damian in the room? HELL to the no," exclaimed Tyler. "I accidentally agreed to play it with him once and one game with that telekinetic asshole was enough for me to learn my lesson."

Damian calmed down and said, "I said I was sorry."

"Never AGAIN, though."

Alexia sighed happily and said, "I love it when you're getting to know people and then something extremely awkward happens and all boundaries fall and you become fearless around them because of it."

"Yes, thank you very much for facilitating that," said Tyler as he rubbed his temples.

"Voldy started it!"

"Actually, Damian started when he got me to overcome a really painful issue and got me to be able to do sparkle magic again."

"Why am I always the scapegoat?"

Quirrell, Voldemort, Alexia, and Damian all looked at each other before cracking up while Tyler looked like he wanted to sob.

"I hate every single one of you," he groaned, although he couldn't resist a small laugh escaping himself. "I'm going to go and make myself some very strong tea and try to drown myself in it."

"I think you're far more likely to fall asleep in it since I'm out of everything but chamomile," said Quirrell. Tyler grimaced but went into the kitchen to make his tea anyways.

Voldemort draped an arm around Quirrell's shoulders and Damian's shoulders and spoke. "You know, I this is one of the best afternoons I've ever had."

Tyler came back from setting up his tea and turning the kettle on and said, "I agree. I forgot what it's like to be in a room with so many people who simultaneously make me laugh and want to punch them in the face."

"You don't even know the half of it!" chirped Alexia. "We have a rabbit who can talk to me and a snake that Voldemort and Quirrell can talk to and they're obnoxious and lovable too. Actually, maybe Damian can talk to them too. Can you speak to animals since you're part goat?"

"No more than you can speak to bananas even though you supposedly share fifty percent of your DNA with them."

"Bananas don't talk!"

"Ahhhh," whispered Tyler in a mysterious voice. "That's just what they want you to think. They try to be very quiet, I'm sure."

"You're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?" asked Voldemort.

"Yes I am," responded Tyler. "But that isn't why I said that. I've given up and decided to join in with the silly."

"That's a good choice," said Damian.

"It doesn't mean I like this very much, I've just given up."

Damian affectionately punched Tyler in the arm and said, "Yeah you like it, stop trying to act dignified. We all know you thought about sparkly love making like the rest of us."

"Arg, fine!" Tyler grinned and rubbed his arm. "However, nobody can deny that you all owe it to Damian and me to help us with our magical research, yeah? Admittedly Voldemort could give us skewed results because he's Voldemort and Alexia could also be odd because she's an empathy, but I think that seeing how your wand and capabilities add up is still worth looking at."

"Sure," said Voldemort.

"Yep," chimed in Quirrell. "Sounds like it could be interesting. Alexia?"

"Only if we all get to hear the Aberforth story."

Damian buried his face in his hands and whimpered, "You're all going to regret this."

"Go on Damian," said Voldemort with a grin inappropriately big to his friend's embarrassment. "Tell them all about it, and don't change anything. It isn't worse than my sparkles."

"I beg to differ, but okay."

**See what I meant by bad mental images? :P**

**This chapter doesn't have much plot aside from Voldy sorting out his stuff and taking a giant leap in healing but I like it too much to not post. I'm not sure how a lot of this happened but I hope you at least got some laughs and feels out of it.**

**I think Damian talking to Aberforth and considering him as a partner would make perfect sense but I also didn't want them being together or even just sex partners. That tick thing is based off of a true story (my friend's uncle) and I've associated it with Aberforth for some reason ever since I heard it and I decided to toss it in here.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this, and if you hated it I'm sorry. Either way, got comments?**

**EDIT: Do you ever post something and then accidentally leave out everything that actually needed to be said in the commentary? I sure have.**

**Voldy's hair: I know I said that it being black drove me crazy, but that was before the AVPSY video had come out I think and all we had was the trailer and some pictures. Since AVPSY I've fallen in love with the white blonde look and it's unnatural to imagine it as black and I felt the need to fix it.**

**Lilo and Stitch: Seeing as HSM was released 2006 and LaS was 2002, it was probably out when Voldy was actively around due to Starkid's weird ways of time but I needed a reason for him to have not seen it. Also, I hope my summary was okay. I love this movie but I haven't seen it in something like 5 years since we lost the tape and trying to explain it is like trying to paint an accurate summary of a Doctor Who episode.**

**That all being said, comments/questions/concerns?**


	32. Epilogue

I apologize for such a long wait and also for such a short chapter.

Guys, this is the last chapter.

It's also the epilogue.

Stay tuned for a letter from the author in which I am a sentimental windbag.

-my friends my friends this is a page break-

For a long period of time, nothing remarkable happened except that Voldemort asked Quirrell to call him Tom. Quirrell became his old self again and stopped being so jumpy and could eat right. Tyler and Damian dropped by time to time

Winter is a bad time for proposing, so Tom waited until spring. Unfortunately, he still had no idea what he was doing.

Quirrell was sitting at the table sipping coffee when Tom asked, "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Voldemort, sorry, Tom, I already have some."

"Oh." Tom looked around the kitchen and asked, "Do you want a bagel?"

"We don't have any."

"Damn, um." Tom fiddled with the ring box in his pocket and Quirrell smiled at him.

"What's that, the precious?"

"I understood that reference," said Tom and Alexia at the same time. Alexia gave Tom an encouraging nod and Quirrell squirmed.

"Is there something going on?"

"Well yeah and I'm not sure how to explain it." Tom tried to think of how to be romantic about it but nothing came to mind.

Quirrell stood up and hugged him tightly and said, "Whatever it is, it'll be alright."

"He wants to bring about an effect with his knees," said Alexia.

"You want to go down on me?!" asked Quirrell, clearly startled.

"No! Well, maybe. What I really mean to say is, um." Tom dropped to his knees and blurted out, "Will you marry me?"

"YES!" Quirrell burst into tears and hugged Voldemort without a glance at the ring. "I thought if you waited much longer I'd have to propose to you myself!"

"You already have a ring for me?"

Quirrell nodded and ran upstairs and came back with a small box. He handed it to Tom and he opened it to see a gorgeous sapphire flower on a gold ring. "It's beautiful, Quirrell. It looks like Scarfy made it."

"He did."

"What? When?"

Quirrell gave Tom a watery smile and said, "I've wanted to marry you since chapter five, silly."

Like most happy times, there is not a lot to be said. Tyler cast the unbreakable vow for Tom and Quirrell at the wedding and Damian single handedly drank all the wine with no side effects.

Alexia's powers were well under her control and she was finally at peace with herself. Alice stayed exactly the same.

Years later, the general peace was broken.

Quirrell and Tom rushed into Alexia's room one morning as she was rushing through last minute high school homework and she looked at them expectantly. "What is it?"

Quirrell gave her a bright look and practically jumped up and down as he said, "Tom and I have been thinking about something for a long time and we've decided we want to do it."

Tom jumped in and asked, "How would you like a little sister?"


	33. Thank You

Dear readers,

This is a really big day for me, so I'd like to have a spiel before ending this entirely.

I still remember the first time I watched AVPM three and a half years ago. I was eating homemade tacos and I decided to watch this silly play my friend was talking to me about.

Lemme tell you, I did not see it changing my life so much.

This fic was born as you know, out of a silly dream. I wrote the first chapter and my brother and brain storm buddy for roughly the first half of this said, "Post it, why not?"

Man oh man did it take off. I'm here thousands and thousands of words later and I'm so happy to have done this. Some of this makes me wince, some of it makes me proud, some of it makes me cry, and a lot of it makes me laugh and also wonder what the hell I was thinking.

To my longtime readers, I am sorry you waited so long only to get an epilogue. To all of you, I'm sorry this came to an end. I'm sorry it came to an end too. I write fanfics, you know how I feel about endings!

But when I sat down to continue this, I realized this story was done and I simply didn't want to admit it. There is change, forgiveness, reconciliation, laughter, life, fun, love, pain, sadness, worry, everything that this story needs, it has. The lonely souls have forged friendships and important relationships, it's tied into AVPSY as much as I can make it and its done.

I am not done writing by a long shot. I have other stories, other stories that I owe to you. Without this very first one, I would not have any if the courage or skill to be doing any other writing both fanfic and original.

I owe many friendships to this fic and this fandom.

I owe any creative writing pursuits I do to this fanfic.

I might even owe my life to those of you who have supported me all these years and stuck with me as I grew as a person and writer.

Thank you.

Each and every one of you.

Thank you, for sharing the laughter and tears with me.

If any members of Starkid are reading this, thank you too. It is frightening to think of my life without you. You have been, and will continue to be, one of the core joys of my life.

To all of you reading, whether you sat down today and read this whole thing in one go or whether you've been with me for a long time, I am so grateful for you.

With love,

Em

P. S. There is a chance this may get a sequel and it is NOT A PROMISE but it could happen. This story is done, doesn't mean the characters are.


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